The aim of the proposed project  (Mass Spectrometry in Biology and Medicine) is to equip the Biozentrum of the University of Basel with a new high-end mass spectrometer to significantly strengthen the Biozentrum’s proteomics capabilities. The instrument will be managed and maintained by the Proteomics Core Facility of the Biozentrum and will thus be available to the general community for a wide range of projects. One of the many proposed applications of the instrument will be in clinical proteomics. This will include unravelling the molecular causes of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). To this end, an inventory of proteins in HCC biopsies will be obtained and compared to the protein inventory from healthy, surrounding liver tissue. We hope to identify proteins that are specifically altered in the tumor biopsy. These proteins will be further investigated as possible molecular causes of the disease or as possible biomarkers for facilitating the diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma.  One of the main problems in the treatment of cancer patients is the emergence of resistance against a given drug. We propose to elucidate the mechanisms of drug resistance by cataloguing the protein content of biopsies taken from patients at different times after the start of treatment. With this ambitious project, we hope to find factors that can be causally linked to the development of drug resistance. With such factors in hand we hope to significantly improve the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma.