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Helmholtz Munich / Matthias Tunger

Prof. Dr. Horst Zitzelsberger

Head Research Unit Radiation Cytogenetics
+49 89 3187 3421Email me

“My vision is a comprehensive understanding of molecular landscapes of human tumors to support precision cancer treatment and to improve clinical outcomes.”

“My vision is a comprehensive understanding of molecular landscapes of human tumors to support precision cancer treatment and to improve clinical outcomes.”

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Academic Career and Research Areas

Horst Zitzelsberger received his diploma in human genetics and earned his doctorate in biology.

His scientific career started at the LMU at the Radiobiological Institute as scientific assistant in 1995. A major focus were molecular mechanisms and markers of radiation-induced carcinogenesis. 2001 he took over the leadership of the research group Cytogenetics at the Helmholtz Zentrum München. At the same time he habilitated at the Medical Faculty of the LMU Munich in radiobiology and was appointed as Associated Professor in 2008. In parallel, he became acting director of the Institute of Molecular Radiobiology and expanded his research focus to include translational radiation oncology mainly in the field of head and neck cancer. Until now he is head of the Research Unit Radiation Cytogenetics and implemented together with Kristian Unger multi-omics approaches and translational bioinformatics in the research field. A joint clinical cooperation group with the Department of Radiation Oncology at the LMU (director: Claus Belka) strengthened the focus on clinical cohorts and personalized cancer treatment strategies.

Fields, skills and expertises

Molecular CytogeneticsMulti-Omics studiesTranslational Radiation OncologyPrognostic markersTherapeutic stratification and targets

Recent Publications

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2022 Scientific Article in Molecular Cancer

Schinke, H. ; Shi, E. ; Lin, Z. ; Quadt, T. ; Kranz, G. ; Zhou, J. ; Wang, H. ; Hess-Rieger, J. ; Heuer, S. ; Belka, C. ; Zitzelsberger, H. ; Schumacher, U. ; Genduso, S. ; Riecken, K. ; Gao, Y. ; Wu, Z. ; Reichel, C.A. ; Walz, C. ; Canis, M. ; Unger, K. ; Baumeister, P. ; Pan, M. ; Gires, O.

A transcriptomic map of EGFR-induced epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition identifies prognostic and therapeutic targets for head and neck cancer.

2022 Scientific Article in Cancers

Hess-Rieger, J. ; Unger, K. ; Maihoefer, C. ; Schuettrumpf, L. ; Weber, P. ; Marschner, S. ; Wintergerst, L. ; Pflugradt, U. ; Baumeister, P. ; Walch, A.K. ; Woischke, C. ; Kirchner, T. ; Werner, M. ; Soerensen, K. ; Baumann, M. ; Tinhofer, I. ; Combs, S.E. ; Debus, J. ; Schaefer, H. ; Krause, M. ; Linge, A. ; von der Gruen, J. ; Stuschke, M. ; Zips, D. ; Canis, M. ; Lauber, K. ; Ganswindt, U. ; Henke, M. ; Zitzelsberger, H. ; Belka, C.

Integration of p16/HPV DNA status with a 24-miRNA-defined molecular phenotype improves clinically relevant stratification of head and neck cancer patients.

2022 Scientific Article in Clinical Cancer Research

Weber, P. ; Künstner, A. ; Hess-Rieger, J. ; Unger, K. ; Marschner, S. ; Idel, C. ; Ribbat-Idel, J. ; Walz, C. ; Rietzler, S. ; Valeanu, L. ; Herkommer, T. ; Kreutzer, L. ; Klymenko, O. ; Kirchner, T. ; Ganswindt, U. ; Walch, A.K. ; Sterr, M. ; Lickert, H. ; Canis, M. ; Rades, D. ; Perner, S. ; Berriel Diaz, M. ; Herzig, S. ; Wollenberg, B. ; Busch, H. ; Zitzelsberger, H.

Therapy-related transcriptional subtypes in matched primary and recurrent head and neck cancer.

2021 Scientific Article in Cell Death & Disease

Schoetz, U. ; Klein, D. ; Hess-Rieger, J. ; Shnayien, S. ; Spoerl, S. ; Orth, M. ; Mutlu, S. ; Hennel, R. ; Sieber, A. ; Ganswindt, U. ; Luka, B. ; Thomsen, A.R. ; Unger, K. ; Jendrossek, V. ; Zitzelsberger, H. ; Bluethgen, N. ; Belka, C. ; Unkel, S. ; Klinger, B. ; Lauber, K.

Early senescence and production of senescence-associated cytokines are major determinants of radioresistance in head-and-neck squamous cell carcinoma.

2021 Scientific Article in International Journal of Cancer

Tawk, B. ; Wirkner, U. ; Schwager, C. ; Rein, K. ; Zaoui, K. ; Federspil, P.A. ; Adeberg, S. ; Linge, A. ; Ganswindt, U. ; Hess-Rieger, J. ; Unger, K. ; Tinhofer, I. ; Budach, V. ; Lohaus, F. ; Krause, M. ; Guberina, M. ; Stuschke, M. ; Balermpas, P. ; Rödel, C. ; Grosu, A.L. ; Schäfer, H. ; Zips, D. ; Combs, S.E. ; Pigorsch, S. ; Zitzelsberger, H. ; Baumeister, P. ; Kirchner, T. ; Bewerunge-Hudler, M. ; Weichert, W. ; Hess, J. ; Herpel, E. ; Belka, C. ; Baumann, M. ; Debus, J. ; Abdollahi, A.

Tumor DNA-methylome derived epigenetic fingerprint identifies HPV-negative head and neck patients at risk for locoregional recurrence after postoperative radiochemotherapy.