Education and Training
Holger Sültmann is head of the division Cancer Genome Research at the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) within the German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), Heidelberg (Germany), and full professor at Heidelberg University Medical Faculty. After graduating in Biochemistry from Tübingen University (Germany), he conducted his PhD studies and postdoc at the Max-Planck-Institute for Biology. He received his state doctorate in Genetics and has been working in Cancer Genomics at DKFZ since 2000.
Expertise
The Sültmann group aims to identify, characterize, and translate genomic biomarkers of cancer into clinical application for the early detection of cancer and monitoring of therapeutic approaches. Research tools include next generation sequencing (NGS) and epigenomic technologies. Holger Sültmann has initiated and coordinated large interdisciplinary genome research projects, including the German contribution to prostate cancer genome sequencing in the International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC). The group’s expertise includes the application of 3D co-culture models to gain new insights into our understanding of tumor therapy resistance and its prevention in vitro. The liquid biopsy approach is employed to improve early detection of lung cancer and to monitor therapy response in lung cancer patients. Holger Sültmann is currently co-heading the liquid biopsy initiative within the DKTK.
- Cancer Genomics
- Identification of biomarkers in tissue and liquid biopsies
- In vitro analysis of genes and signaling pathways causing therapy resistance
Lung Cancer
- Daum AK, Schlicker L, Schneider MA, Muley T, Klingmüller U, Schulze A, Christopoulos P, Thomas M, Sültmann H. Cancer-associated fibroblasts promote drug resistance in ALK-driven lung adenocarcinoma cells by upregulating lipid biosynthesis. Cancer and Metabolism 13(1):28, 2025
- Janke F, Gasser M, Angeles AK, Riediger AL, Görtz M, Appenheimer L, Laut A, Ogrodnik S, Gerhardt S, Stenzinger A, Schneider MA, Thomas M, Christopoulos P, Sültmann H. Low-coverage whole genome sequencing of cell-free DNA to predict and track immunotherapy response in advanced non-small cell lung cancer. J Exp Clin Cancer Res Mar 8;44(1):87, 2025
- Angeles AK, Janke F, Daum AK, Reck M, Schneider MA, Thomas N, Christopoulos P, Sültmann H. Integrated circulating tumor DNA and cytokine analysis for therapy monitoring of ALK-rearranged lung adenocarcinoma.. Br J Cancer 129(1):112-121, 2023
- Janke F, Angeles AK, Riediger AL, Bauer S, Reck M, Schneider MA, Muley T, Thomas M, Christopoulos P, Sültmann H. Monitoring progression of ALK-rearranged lung adenocarcinoma using DNA methylation patterns in cell free DNA. Clinical Epigenetics, 14(1):163, 2022
- Angeles AK*, Christopoulos P*, Yuan Z, Bauer S, Janke F, Ogrodnik SJ, Reck M, Schlesner M, Meister M, Schneider MA, Dietz S, Stenzinger A, Thomas M, Sültmann H. Early identification of disease progression in ALK-rearranged lung cancer using circulating tumor DNA analysis. NPJ Precision Oncology, 5(1):100, 2021
Dr. Arlou Kristina Angeles | Postdoc |
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Ann-Kathrin Daum | PhD Student |
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Florian Janke | PhD Student |
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Lung Research - Projects
- Development and application of 3D spheroid models for lung cancer
Therapy resistance is a major obstacle to prolonged overall survival of lung cancer patients. To understand the factors influencing resistance to therapeutic approaches, the group is using spheroid co-culture models of cell lines and primary cells to analyze the effects of drug application on the cellular and molecular level using immunofluorescence, flow cytometry, scRNA-seq, methylation arrays, and phosphoproteomic technologies. - Longitudinal liquid biopsy monitoring in lung adenocarcinoma patients
The team has established panel-based sequencing as well as digital PCR to quantify mutations in blood plasma of lung cancer patients with EGFR mutations and EML4/ALK rearrangements. These studies allow for minimally invasive monitoring of therapy response, including earlier detection of tumor recurrence, and identification of emerging resistance mutations which might provide the basis for altered treatment decision in the clinic. - Technologies for enrichment of epigenomic markers from body fluids
The Sültmann group is developing and implementing technologies to investigate novel marker types for therapy monitoring of cancer patients. Our current focus is on the analysis of methylated and hydroxymethylated DNA and miRNA in plasma samples of lung cancer patients with EML4/ALK rearrangements. Such markers might also be applied for an earlier detection of early tumor stages in lung cancer risk groups.
