Cancer Epigenomics

  • Functional and Structural Genomics
Employee image

Prof. Dr. Christoph Plass

Division Head

Our division studies the contribution of epigenetic modifications to cancer, from their role in promoting tumor growth to their modulation of cancer therapies. Non-genetic mechanisms of therapy resistance are poorly understood at the molecular level and represent an unmet clinical need that we are addressing in several projects.

Logo DKFZ

Our Research

The Division of Cancer Epigenomics focuses on the integration of epigenomic, genetic and transcriptomic data to unravel epigenomic alterations contributing to human malignancies, with a focus on acute myeloid leukemia, chronic lymphocytic leukemia, breast, lung, and prostate cancer. Altered epigenetic regulation of gene expression through changes in DNA methylation patterns, histone modifications and nucleosome positioning has been identified as a tumorigenic mechanism in almost all human malignancies. Epigenetic gene regulation through modulation of enhancer activity is now recognized as a novel concept in cancer epigenomics. Epigenetic modifications do not alter the gene sequence and offer the exciting possibility of using inhibitors of epigenetic enzymes to revert them. Our work relies on the use of state-of-the-art technologies, including genome-wide epigenomic profiling of purified cell types using low-input protocols, single-cell technologies, long-read sequencing and sophisticated computational analyses of omics data.

A diagram illustrating multi-omic analysis in cancer research, featuring components like DNA repair, epigenetic domain analysis, and integration of datasets. It highlights processes such as cell isolation, biomarker development for breast cancer, and multi-regional single-cell analyses, aimed at enhancing understanding of cancer mechanisms. Overwiew of the Cancer Epigenomics Division
Overwiew of the Cancer Epigenomics Division

Members

Entire Team

Selected Publications

2025 - Blood Cancer Discovery 6 (4): 343–363
2025 - Nature 643, 478–487
2024 - Genome Biology 25: 305
2025 - The Journal of Clinical Investigation

Get in touch with us

Employee image

Prof. Dr. Christoph Plass

Division Head
Form

Form data is loaded ...