Metastasis remains the ultimate barrier to curing cancer.
We focus on the extracellular matrix (ECM) and the tumour microenvironment, which together create fertile soil that enables cancer cells to colonise and grow at distant organs.
By uniting fundamental biology, advanced imaging, and patient‑derived models with clinical workflows, we operate at the cutting edge of precision medicine and translational innovation. Ultimately, we aim to reveal the mechanisms driving metastatic colonisation and convert these insights into life-saving therapeutic strategies.
CURRENT PROJECTS
I. Tumour Microenvironment & ECM Biomechanics
We dissect the biochemical and mechanical cues within the ECM that drive tumour progression, metastatic colonization, and drug resistance. By understanding how the ECM is altered in disease, we can identify how cancer cells respond to these changes to become more aggressive.
Pioneering 3D Models
Our lab developed ISDoT (In Situ Decellularization of Tissues), a groundbreaking method to isolate intact 3D ECM scaffolds from both animal organs and human tissue (Mayorca et al, 2017, Nature Medicine; Mayorca et al, 2019, Nature Protocols).
This technology allows us to accurately model metastatic environments , culture cells within native scaffolds, and assess their behavior in healthy versus diseased conditions (Rafaeva et al, 2022, Advanced Healthcare Materials).Decoding ECM Cues
By coupling high-resolution imaging, proteomics, and machine learning, we uncover hidden features of disease. We have shown how tissue fibrosis, basal membrane stiffness and integrity actively promote cancer cell proliferation, metastasis and drug response (Cox et al, 2013, Cancer Research; Reuten et al, 2021, Nature Materials; Nielsen et al, 2021, Nature Communications; Xia et al, 2025, Frontiers in Immunology), and we have derived a desmoplastic signature capable of predicting patient prognosis. (Emerson et al, 2025, Acta Biomaterialia).
Cellular Crosstalk & Therapy Resistance
We investigate the complex dialogue between cancer cells and their surroundings. This includes identifying how specific ECM components significantly reduce a tumour’s response to drugs, and discovering how Tumor Endothelial Cells (TECs) actively drive cancer aggressiveness by secreting specific angiocrine factors (Oria et al, 2025, Cell Commun Signaling; Righetti et al, 2025, IJMS).
II. Precision Cancer Medicine
In close partnership with clinical teams, we integrate real‑time molecular profiling with patient‑derived organoids and advanced co‑culture platforms to predict treatment response. We also define postoperative therapeutic windows where targeted interventions and lifestyle changes can alter disease trajectory.
Metastatic Patient-Derived Organoids (PDOs)
We use PDOs to create personalized, laboratory models of a patient’s metastatic cancer. We have demonstrated that while PDOs faithfully replicate the features of the original tumour, engrafting these PDOs into in vivo models successfully restores the complex, context-dependent microenvironmental signalling lost in isolation, providing us with a highly accurate platform for functional precision medicine (Castro et al, 2026, Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology).
Advanced 3D Co-Culture Platforms
We have developed a state-of-the-art drug testing pipeline that integrates PDOs with tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs). This platform accurately replicates real-time patient responses to chemotherapy, targeted treatments, and T-cell bispecific antibodies, highlighting the critical impact of the immune microenvironment on therapy efficacy (Kjølle et al, 2026, Cells)
Postoperative Therapeutic Windows
We investigate how physiological stress and lifestyle interventions impact cancer progression. Our preclinical studies reveal that a boost in physical activity specifically following surgery can double median survival time and significantly delay metastatic development, highlighting the postoperative period as a critical therapeutic window to counteract surgical stress and halt metastasis (Stagaard et al, 2025, Frontiers in Immunology).
We translate ECM and microenvironment biology into new interventions designed to dismantle the metastatic niche. Current efforts include therapeutic approaches to target metastatic tumours, and development paths toward clinical translation and potential spin‑out.
You can find out more about our research at BRIC, University of Copenhagen