The biophysicist Professor Dr Josef Käs from the University of Leipzig/Germany and Professor Dr Jochen Guck from the Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Light in Erlangen/Germany are leading global scientists in the physics of cancer. Their research, some of which they have conducted jointly, investigates the physical properties of cells when they interact with surrounding tissue. They have managed to demonstrate how tumour cells actively change from solid and stiff to a fluid and soft condition in order to move between the dense tissue of the human body and form metastases. This discovery has led to a paradigmatic shift in how cancer cells are viewed and motivated collaboration with the physician Professor Dr Bahriye Aktas from the University of Leipzig Medical Center. Aktas has made it possible to study human tumour samples directly after operating and thus also live-cell microscopy of the active deformation of cancer cells. Building on the work of her predecessor Professor Dr Michael Höckel, she raises the question of what limits cancer cells in the body experience. “Bahriye Aktas, Jochen Guck, and Josef Käs provide an impressive example of how interdisciplinary basic research can significantly deepen the understanding of cancerous diseases,” says Leopoldina President Professor (ETHZ) Dr Gerald Haug. “Studying the behaviour of tumour cells from the perspective of physics and linking it to direct insights gained from medical institutions has the potential to develop completely new means of treating cancer.”
The potential for cancer treatment is already apparent with respect to breast cancer. Whether the cancer has metastasised or not is key in determining the success of therapies. To date, however, it has not been possible to accurately predict when a tumour forms metastases. Käs and Aktas, working together with Professor Dr Axel Niendorf (Hamburg/Germany), managed to identify markers that, in combination with existing criteria, are significantly better at indicating a tumour’s potential to metastasise. They have done so using biophysical concepts, the central idea of which – that metastasising cancer cells must be softer – Jochen Guck played an important role in developing. Cancer cells in primary tumours are, at the local level, very solid and densely packed. In order to release themselves from the original tumour and move through the human body, cancer cells must soften, allowing the cancer cell aggregate to become fluid. In the study carried out by Käs and Aktas together with Axel Niendorf, the scientists identified the histological characteristics of the cancer cells that become fluid: they were longer and had deformed cell nuclei, allowing them to “squeeze” through neighbouring tissue. Their study of more than 1,000 breast cancer patients offers a strong indication that these deformed cell and nuclei forms can be used as a reliable marker for a cancer’s aggressiveness, and to predict a tumour’s potential to metastasise. This could permit breast cancer treatments to be more individually tailored to patients. In Erlangen, parallel to the activities in Leipzig, Guck developed a high-throughput method to measure the deformability of cells (real-time deformability cytometry, RT-DC). This method is particularly suited to finding substances that can change cancer cell mechanics to prevent metastases.
Bahriye Aktas (born in 1975) is Professor of Gynaecology at the University of Leipzig and Director of the Department of Gynaecology at the Leipzig Medical Center. Aktas studied medicine at the Justus Liebig University Gießen/Germany. She completed her medical training as a gynaecologist and obstetrician at the University Hospital Essen/Germany, obtained her habilitation there in 2013, and was appointed Associate Professor in 2017. That year she switched to the University of Leipzig. As a gynaecologist, her focus is on minimally invasive and robot-assisted surgery, which is used for gentler and precise operations with improved chances of healing, and she also has a particular interest in surgery for cancer treatment. She and her predecessor have helped to globally establish new operation methods that take into account how a tumour spreads.
Jochen Guck (born in 1973) studied physics in Würzburg/Germany and obtained his doctorate at the University of Texas in Austin/USA under Josef Käs. They jointly developed tools to investigate cell mechanics (optical cell stretcher). Following research stays at the University of Leipzig and the University of Cambridge/UK, in 2012 Guck was awarded the Alexander von Humboldt Professorship of Cellular Machines at the Biotechnology Centre of the Technical University of Dresden/Germany and was Senior Director there. Since 2018 he has been Director at the Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Light and, since 2020, Professor of Biological Optomechanics at the Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg. He has developed further photonic and biophysical instruments, including real-time deformability cytometry. These form the basis for many partnerships with medical institutions in Erlangen and at the new Max Planck Centre for Physics and Medicine (MPZPM).
Josef Käs (born in 1961) is Head of the Soft Matter Physics Division at the University of Leipzig’s Peter Debye Institute for Soft Matter Physics. He studied physics at Columbia University in New York/USA and at the Technical University of Munich/Germany, where he obtained his doctorate. After holding a professorship at the University of Texas in Austin, he moved to Leipzig University. One of his key research areas concerns the physical properties of cancer cells. He discovered how cancer cells can vary their degree of solidity and fluidity and thus achieved a paradigmatic shift in the understanding of tumour mechanics.
The German National Academy of Science Leopoldina’s Greve Prize is awarded to scientists or research teams that work at German universities, non-university research institutes, or commercial enterprises. The prize is awarded every two years and honours outstanding research achievements in the natural sciences/medicine and engineering sciences. The Greve Prize, on each occasion, focuses on a specific topic. This year, the topic is the foundations of new cancer therapies. The prize is endowed with 250,000 euros, with funds from the Greve Foundation.
The award ceremony takes place on Friday, 6 December 2024 at 11.00 a.m. The President of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, First Mayor Dr Peter Tschentscher, invites participants and guests to attend the event at the Hamburg City Hall. Journalists who are interested in the ceremony should please make contact by email at presse(at)leopoldina.org by 15 November. We are happy to facilitate interviews with the prize winners.
The event will be livestreamed on the Leopoldina’s YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/NationaleAkademiederWissenschaftenLeopoldina
About the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina
As the German National Academy of Sciences, the Leopoldina provides independent science-based policy advice on matters relevant to society. To this end, the Academy develops interdisciplinary statements based on scientific findings. In these publications, options for action are outlined; making decisions, however, is the responsibility of democratically legitimized politicians. The experts who prepare the statements work in a voluntary and unbiased manner. The Leopoldina represents the German scientific community in the international academy dialogue. This includes advising the annual summits of Heads of State and Government of the G7 and G20 countries. With around 1,700 members from more than 30 countries, the Leopoldina combines expertise from almost all research areas. Founded in 1652, it was appointed the National Academy of Sciences of Germany in 2008. The Leopoldina is committed to the common good.
About the Helmut and Hannelore Greve Foundation for Science, Development and Culture
Prof. Dr. h. c. Helmut Greve and Prof. Dr. h. c. Hannelore Greve founded the Helmut and Hannelore Greve Foundation for Science, Development and Culture in 1995. In the area of science the foundation provided start-up capital spread over three years to establish the Academy of Sciences in Hamburg, the creation of the highly endowed Hamburg Science Prize, and since 2022 the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina’s Greve Prize. The highly conscientious approach of the foundation’s founders, their keen sense for quality, and their insight into what is necessary and what is possible shape the foundation’s work to this day. Directors Eva-Maria Greve and Wolfgang Peter Greve continue to guide the foundation according to these principles.
