Treatment for lung cancer is changing fast. Drugs like immune checkpoint inhibitors and targeted therapies are no longer used only for advanced disease. They are increasingly given in early stages, often combined with surgery and radiation. This improves chances of cure but raises new questions: Which therapy fits which patient? In what order? How can side effects be avoided? And how do we keep costs under control?
The Munich Lung Tumor Center, a joint initiative of LMU University Hospital and Asklepios Lung Clinic Gauting, aims to answer these questions. The Josef Plainn Foundation is supporting this work again with €200,000.
Prof. Dr. Amanda Tufman, head of the Munich Lung Tumor Center at LMU University Hospital and group leader at CPC-M, explains: “We want to make treatment more individual. For that, we need clinical data, tissue samples, and close collaboration with many partners. The Josef Plainn Foundation’s support allows us to continue projects we have already started into 2026.”
Three projects are in focus:
ALICE Study – Gender differences in immunotherapy
Checkpoint inhibitors help the immune system detect and fight tumor cells. But there are signs that women respond differently than men. The reasons are unclear – hormones, pregnancies, or immune system differences may play a role.
In 2025, 100 patients were enrolled. First results were presented at the World Lung Cancer Conference in Barcelona. In 2026, the number should rise to 300 to include early stages. Blood and tissue samples will also be analyzed to better understand immune response.
Regional immune reaction – Focus on lymph nodes
In early-stage lung cancer, surgery often cures. But if lymph nodes are affected, relapse risk increases. This project studies how immune cells in lymph nodes and blood react to tumors and why some patients relapse despite immunotherapy. The goal: improve follow-up and plan additional treatments more precisely.
Angiogenesis inhibitors – Cutting off the tumor’s blood supply
Tumors need new blood vessels to grow. Drugs that block this process are usually combined with chemotherapy. But not all patients benefit. This project analyzes large care data sets to find factors predicting success. It also looks at combinations with immunotherapy and the role of mRNA vaccines.
Collaboration and funding
The projects are developed in close cooperation with research groups in the Department of Thoracic Surgery, the Bavarian Center for Cancer Research (BZKF), the Asklepios Lung Clinics Munich-Gauting, the CPC-M (Munich site of the German Center for Lung Research), and other partners. For 2026, the total budget is €200,000.
Prof. Tufman emphasizes:
“Our goal is treatment that works and is tolerable. To achieve that, we need to understand how the immune system reacts to cancer – and why it sometimes fails.”
Learn more about the Munich Lung Tumor Center:
https://www.lungentumorzentrum-muenchen.de/ccc-Lungentumorzentrum