New EU project on treatment resistance in melanoma brain metastases

Malignant melanoma, a form of skin cancer, has become more prevalent in recent years. Many patients develop brain metastases during the course of the disease, which existing therapies often cannot adequately treat. The molecular changes and mechanisms underlying melanoma brain metastasis resistance to therapy have not yet been sufficiently researched.

The EU-funded, interdisciplinary STAR-MBM joint project aims to lay the groundwork for treating BRAF inhibitor-resistant melanoma brain metastases with MET inhibitors. The STAR-MBM joint project's bioinformatics subproject, carried out at the IMB, is responsible for analyzing the spatial transcriptome data of melanoma brain metastases. The goal is to identify genes, signaling pathways, cell types, and spatial cell patterns that distinguish BRAFi-resistant metastases from nonresistant ones. Additionally, gene regulatory networks are created based on collected molecular omics data to determine which genes significantly control the development of BRAFi resistance and how they interact with the MET-controlled resistance-associated regulatory program. Thus, our STAR-MBM subproject makes an essential contribution to developing future treatment strategies aimed at overcoming BRAFi therapy resistance.

In addition to PD Michael Seifert (IMB, Medical Bioinformatics), four other partners are involved in STAR-MBM: Prof. Josefine Radke (Pathology, University Medicine Greifswald), Dr. Torben Redmer (Medical Biochemistry, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna), Dr. Frits Thorsen (Biomedicine, University of Bergen), and Dr. Balázs Győrffy (Bioinformatics, Semmelweis University Budapest).

Dr. Torben Redmer is the coordinator and PD Dr. Michael Seifert is the co-coordinator of the STAR-MBM project, which will be funded with more than €1.6 million over three years, starting in April 2026, as part of the European Partnership for Personalized Medicine (EP PerMed PGxPM2025).