Name:

Dr. Frans van Valen

Centre:

Laboratory for Experimental Orthopaedic Research

University Hospital of Münster

Domagkstrasse 3

48149 Münster – Germany

Tel: +49 251 8356754     Fax: +49 251 8356758

e-mail: valen@uni-muenster.de

Head of the Laboratory for Experimental Orthopaedic Research – Division Cellular Biology. Graduated in biology; working for over 20 years on various aspects of the biology of Ewing tumours.

The Orthopaedic Clinic of the University Hospital of Muenster (director: Prof. Dr. Winfried Winkelmann) is the main German reference centre for the treatment of Ewing tumour and osteosarcoma in cooperation with the CESS-, EICESS- and COSS-study groups in Germany. As one of its clinical research projects “The European Bone Tumor Outcome Study” was set up for the determination of the function and quality of life of European tumour patients. Prof. Winkelmann introduced the rotationplasty procedure to improve the quality of survival for patients who have not yet reached skeletal maturity and have a malignant tumor of the proximal part of the femur (Winkelmann, J Bone Joint Surgery 68, 362-69, 1986). The research group of the Orthopaedic Clinic, as localized in the Laboratory for Experimental Orthopaedic Research/Cellular Biology, University Hospital of Muenster and headed by Dr. Frans van Valen, is devoted to various aspects of the biology of the Ewing’s sarcoma family of tumours (ESFT) with particular reference to intracellular metabolic activities, cell proliferation, adhesion behaviour and programmed cell death. The Laboratory for Experimental Orthopaedic Research/Cellular Biology holds the world-wide largest collection of ESFT cell lines available for cellular, biochemical and immunological studies. The research group works in close cooperation with the Children´s Clinic - Devision of Paediatric Haematology and Oncology - (director: Prof. Dr. Heribert Jürgens) of the University Hospital of Muenster, which is responsible for the co-ordination of therapeutic studies on AML, Ewing tumour (CESS, EICESS) and osteosarcoma (COSS) in Germany as structured by the GPOH (Gesellschaft für Pädiatrische Onkologie und Hämatologie). The impact of different local therapy approaches on local control, event-free survival, and secondary malignancies in the CESS 81, CESS 86, and EICESS 92 trials showed that patients with resectable tumours after initial chemotherapy had a low local failure rate; with preoperative radiotherapy, local control was comparable, while postoperative radiotherapy may improve local control (Schuck et al., Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys 55, 168-77, 2003). European-wide, the Orthopedic Clinic and the Children’s Clinic - Division of Paediatric Haematology and Oncology - cooperate with the British UKCCSG, the French SFOP and with the EORTC.

Personnel involved in studies related to PROTHET's:

The current project aims at the definition of prognostic markers for Ewing’s sarcoma patients, by providing materials and clinical information, as well as the effectiveness of tumour necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) alone and in combination with etoposide in the treatment of Ewing's sarcoma family of tumours. In this project the following personnel is involved:

Prof. Dr. Winfried Winkelmann, Director of the Orthopaedic Clinic of the University Hospital of Muenster. He heads the surgical treatment of patients with bone and soft-tissue sarcomas.

Prof. Dr. Heribert Jürgens, Director of the Children’s Clinic Division of Paediatric Haematology and Oncology of the University Hospital of Muenster, Head of the Medical Faculty of the University Hospital of Münster. He heads the chemotherapeutic treatment of patients with bone and soft-tissue sarcomas.

Dr. Josef Vormoor, Full member of the Bone Marrow Transplant Unit, Children’s Clinic Division of Paediatric Haematology and Oncology of the University Hospital of Muenster. Graduated in medicine; specialised in immunology, both in terms of biochemical and functional aspects; established the NOD/scid mouse model for studying Ewing tumour behaviour in vivo (Vormoor et al., Pediatric Res 49, 332-41, 2001).

Miss Prof. Dr. Gabriele Köhler, Pathologist, Gerhard-Domagk-Institute for Pathology, University Hospital of Muenster. In the Gerhard-Domagk-Institute for Pathology molecular research and classification technology was validated (Dockhorn-Dworniczak et al., Virchows Arch 425, 107-12, 1994) and a European reference centre for the molecular diagnosis of Ewing tumours was established.

Dr. Stephanie Stapel, Psychologist, Children’s Clinic Division of Paediatric Haematology and Oncology of the University Hospital of Münster.

Prof. Dr. Otmar Schober, Chairman of the local Ethic Committee, University Hospital of Münster

Recent Publications relevant to the project:

van Valen F. Ewing’s sarcoma family of tumors. In: Masters JRW, Pallson B (eds), Human Cell Culture. Volume I: Cancer Cell Lines Part I, pp 55-85, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Great Britain, 1999

van Valen F, Fulda S, Truckenbrod B, Eckervogt V, Sonnemann J, Hillmann A, Rödl R, Hoffmann C, Winkelmann W, Schäfer KL, Dockhorn-Dworniczak B, Wessel T, Boos J, Debatin KM, Jürgens H. Apoptotic responsiveness of the Ewing’s sarcoma family of tumours to tumour necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL). Int J Cancer 88, 252-59, 2000

van Valen F, Fulda S, Truckenbrod B, Hotfilder M, Debatin KM, Winkelmann W. Selective and nonselective toxicity of TRAIL/Apo2L combined with chemotherapy in human bone tumour cells versus normal human cells. Int J Cancer 107, 929-40, 2003

Vormoor F, Baersch B, Decker S, Hotfilder M, Schäfer KL, Pelken L, Rübe C, van Valen F, Jürgens H, Dockhorn-Dworniczak B. Establishment of an in vivo model for pediatric Ewing tumors by transplantation into NOD/scid mice. Pediatric Res 49, 332-41, 2001