Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma
Clinical and translational research on malignant lymphoma
Wößmann Research Group
Prof Wilhelm Wößmann's research focuses on childhood non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL), particularly ana-plastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL). The team investigates resistance mechanisms of ALCL and the immune response of patients against ALCL in order to create the basis for developing immunotherapeutic ap-proaches. They conduct and take part in international clinical studies for children and adolescents with ALCL. Furthermore, the group works on the clinical significance of minimal residual disease in NHL.
Wilhelm Wößmann studied human medicine at the universities of Giessen, Lübeck, and Bergen. After completing his doctorate at the Medical University of Lübeck, he was trained as a pediatrician in Lübeck and Giessen. His paused his training for a research stay at the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta, USA. He trained as a pediatric oncologist in the Department of Paediatric Oncology and Haematology at Giessen University Hospital. He worked there as a senior physician from 2003 and as deputy head of department from 2010. In the early 2000s, he began his clinical and translational research on optimizing the treatment of childhood Non-Hodgkin's lymphomas (NHL) as part of the NHL-BFM study group led by Prof. Reiter. After completing his post-doctoral lecture qualification (habilitation) at Justus Liebig University, he continued researching the topic alongside his clinical work. Since 2011, he chairs the NHL-BFM study group together with Prof Dr Dr Burkhardt (Münster). In 2018, he was appointed Professor of Paediatric Haematology and Oncology at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, together with the deputy head position and senior physician in the Department of Paediatric Haematology and Oncology at the UKE. His clinical and laboratory research on NHL focuses on anaplastic large cell lymphoma and minimally disseminated and minimal residual disease in NHL.
Deutsche Kinderkrebsstiftung
Deutsche José Carreras Leukämie-Stiftung e.V.
Netzwerk Universitätsmedizin
Damp-Stiftung
EU funding as part of the MSC PhD programme ("Fantom" project)
Gesellschaft für KinderKrebsForschung e.V.
Hamburger Stiftung zur Förderung der Krebsforschung
[1] Stadler S, Blasco RB, Singh VK, Damm-Welk C, Ben-Hamza A, Welters C, Hansmann L, Chiarle R*, Woessmann W*. Endogenous CD4 T cells that recognize ALK and the NPM1::ALK fusion protein can be expanded from human peripheral blood. Cancer Immunol Res, in press, 2025.
[2] Luedersen J, Stadt UZ, Richter J, Oschlies I, Klapper W, Rosenwald A, Kalinova M, Simonitsch-Klupp I, Siebert R, Zimmermann M, Qi M, Nakel J, Scheinemann K, Knörr F, Attarbaschi A, Kabickova E, Woessmann W*, Damm-Welk C*. Variant ALK-fusion positive anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL): A population-based paediatric study of the NHL-BFM study group. Br J Haematol. 204(5): 1894-1898, 2024.
[3] Möker P, Zur Stadt U, Zimmermann M, Alawi M, Mueller S, Finger J, Knörr F, Riquelme A, Oschlies I, Klapper W, Bradtke J, Burkhardt B, Woessmann W, Damm-Welk C. Characterization of IG-MYC-breakpoints and their application for quantitative minimal disease monitoring in high-risk pediatric Burkitt-lymphoma and -leukemia. Leukemia 36: 2343-2346, 2022.
[4] Knörr F, Brugières L, Pillon M, Zimmermann M, Ruf S, Attarbaschi A, Mellgren K, Burke GAA, Uyttebroeck A, Wróbel G, Beishuizen A, Aladjidi N, Reiter A, Woessmann W. Stem Cell Transplantation and Vinblastine Monotherapy for Relapsed Pediatric Anaplastic Large Cell Lymphoma: Results of the International, Prospective ALCL-Relapse Trial. J Clin Oncol 38(34): 3999-4009, 2020.
[5] Woessmann W, Zimmermann M, Meinhardt A, Mueller S, Hauch H, Knörr F, Oschlies I, Klapper W, Niggli F, Kabickova E, Attarbaschi A, Reiter A, Burkhardt B. Progressive or Relapsed Burkitt Lymphoma or Leukemia in Children and Adolescents after BFM-type First-line Therapy. Blood. 135(14):1124-1132, 2020.
[6] Damm-Welk C, Kutscher N, Zimmermann M, Attarbaschi A, Schieferstein J, Knörr F, Oschlies I, Klapper W, Woessmann W. Quantification of minimal disseminated disease by quantitative PCR and digital PCR for NPM-ALK as prognostic factor in children with anaplastic large cell lymphoma. Haematologica 105(8):2141-2149, 2020.
(*shared last authorship)
Prof. Dr. Ulrich Schüller appointed new Scientific Director of the Research Institute Children’s Cancer Center Hamburg
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