Radiotherapy is involved in 50% of all cancer treatments. The dose that can be delivered to the tumor however is limited to the tolerance of the surrounding normal tissues. Therefore, the Coppes lab focusses on the effects of radiation on normal tissues. Next to the physiological mechanism of heart and lung interaction in thoracic irradiation, the lab is interested in the response of stem cells to radiation and subsequent regeneration of damaged tissues. The lab developed in vivo and in vitro models on purification and characterization of mice, rat and human salivary, thyroid gland and esophagus stem/progenitor cells. Recently his group developed a protocol for adult stem cell therapy for radiation-induced hyposalivation and consequential xerostomia, which is now being translated to the clinic. Currently, the lab is investigating the possibly of using patient derived adult tissue stem cells as tissue resembling organoids as well as tumor derived organoids resembling the original tumor to develop personalized medicine.
