Mathias Heikenwälder

Diet in liver diseases: What should I tell my patients? A focused discussion on prevention, treatment and the role of diet–microbiome interactions in liver disease. Mathias Heikenwälder @CancerInflam & Gabriel Perlemuter 👉 Save your seat for #GMFH2026 gutmicrobiotaforhealth.com/porto-2026-fou…

Activated Gene Promotes Liver Cancer but Also Improves Immunotherapy Response Study suggests that persistently activated ATF6α is a #tumordriver, a potential stratification marker for #immunotherapyresponse, and a therapeutic target for #HCC @CancerInflam hubs.li/Q041-g240

Researchers from DKFZ, University Hospital Tübingen & Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute discovered that chronic cellular stress promotes liver cancer - but at the same time renders tumors vulnerable to immunotherapy. @Nature @CancerInflam t1p.de/1vosw

In a state-of-the-art at #LiverCancerSummit 2026 Matthias Heikenwälder @CancerInflam outlined how chronic inflammation, metabolism and immune contexture converge to drive hepatocellular carcinoma, and how this biology can be therapeutically exploited. ▶️MASLD and MetALD are emerging as dominant future causes, adding to tumour heterogeneity ▶️Distinct molecular and immune subclasses of HCC shape prognosis and therapy response ▶️Drug repurposing, such as metformin combined with immunotherapy, shows promise in both experimental and patient data ▶️The future of HCC treatment lies in integrated molecular, pathological and clinical stratification Liver cancer is caused by chronic inflammation, but it is the specific inflammatory and metabolic context that determines therapy response.

Fantastic conference on liver pathobiology - soon to come!

#CellPlasticity—the ability of cells to change their identity—is vital for tissue growth and repair. But when it goes unchecked, it can fuel #cancer. Our latest study examines how to block #LiverCancer by actively suppressing plasticity. nature.com/articles/s4158… #CancerBiology

The next appointment of our i2 @DKFZ seminar series is on Thursday, October 31st, at 4 pm. We'll hear two Data & Technique talks by Ilka Wahl, postdoc in Hedda Wardemann’s lab, and Kam Shing, PhD student in Mathias Heikenwälder’s lab. Join us for a lively discussion! More info 👇

What a great collaboration - hard work and exciting results. More to come ! Danke @MoritzMall, team and all collaborators.

Universität Düsseldorf: Leberkrebs: Die Fitness von Tumorzellen als Angriffspunkt für neue Therapien medizin.hhu.de/news-detailinf…

We show: -HBV1.3 transgenic mice develop HCC in the absence of inflammation. - HBVxfs mice, expressing all HBV proteins but a truncated HBx, display significantly reduced HCC incidence. - Hepatocyte-specific STAT3-knockout abrogates HCC development.

Happy that this collaborative effort is out. Thanks to the laboratories of @UlrikeProtzer, Massimo Levrero, Heiner Wedmeyer, Roland Rad, Kristian Unger, and many others. A true long-term colaboration - led by Marc Ringelhan and Svenja Schüle doi.org/10.1016/j.jhep…

Great collaboration with the laboratory of Tom Luedde and many others. Once again very inspiring and fruitful.

The work was led by @GallageSuchira, the Metabolic Signalling Group and the Senescence Group at @MRC_LMS in collaboration with @CancerInflam #AgingResearch #Longevity #NatureAging

Great collaborative work between many groups - with a quite surprising result: sciencedirect.com/science/articl… - it has been a real pleasure and a real journey in which we learned a lot.

@CancerInflam from @DKFZ presented research seeking to increase therapeutic options for liver cancer through deciphering the hepatic inflammatory environment in tissue damage and cancer development #BICC2024

Great brainstorming at the first #THRIVE working meeting in Tavertet! Two wonderful days filled with new ideas for putting our plans into action, achieving our goals and advancing collaborative projects within the consortium. #LiverTwitter #CancerResearch #EU

GREAT to be supported by @THRIVE_LiverCan and the fantastic groups thereof in this project.

‼️New Article‼️ Intermittent fasting protects against liver inflammation and liver cancer. Check out the new paper published by the THRIVE member @CancerInflam from @DKFZ and @uni_tue @Cell_Metabolism @CellCellPress 👇👇👇 sciencedirect.com/science/articl…

A great team of people at the DKFZ, University Clinics Tübingen, University Tübingen, University Heidelberg, Monash University and King´s colleague helped us on the way supported us - a team effort - with clincial implications - that we follow up. Thank you to all collaborators.

Looking forward to a great talk and discussion session!