Menu
MapConnectionsTopicsBulgariaThe Night (K-TRIO)Marie Skłodowska-CurieFor studentsFor teachersMethodologySurprise me
HEDoctoral network2023–2027

Melomanes · Combination therapy for the treatment of metastatic melanoma using magnetic nanoparticles

Horizon Europe — Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Duration
2023-03-01 → 2027-02-28
EU contribution
€2,734,402
Participants
25
Scheme
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-DN

Lines connect the coordinator with its partners. CORDIS does not always give exact coordinates for projects before 2014. These points are placed at city or country level.

Results in brief

Combination therapy for the treatment of metastatic melanoma using magnetic nanoparticles

Cancer is the second leading cause of mortality in EU countries, after cardiovascular diseases, with cancer deaths estimated to be at 1.3 million in 2022. Every year, an increasing number of people are diagnosed with the disease, with the number of new cases reaching 2.7 million in 2022. Notably, Europe has a quarter of all cancer cases and less than 10% of the world’s population. The fight against cancer operates in several key areas. First, the prevention of cancer can be achieved through the decrease of risk factors and the use of vaccines. Secondly, the early detection of all cancers greatly increases the chances for survivorship, so cancer screening is essential. Thirdly, the cancer diagnosis and treatments require more scientific research to offer hope for a cure and better survival rates. One of the most worrisome cancers is metastatic melanoma, a skin cancer that spread to other parts of the body as it was not detected early enough. Its prognosis is poor, with a median survival of 6 to 9 months, and a 5-year survival rate of 22.5%. Metastatic melanoma is a hard-to-treat disease, as the current therapies have a limited efficacy. For promising immunotherapies of metastatic melanoma, such as chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cells, the efficiency is limited by the low access to the tumour by the CAR-T cells. This is related to the physical barriers represented by cellular and non-cellular components of the tumour microenvironment. MELOMANES is a training-by-research project that develops an innovative combined therapy to treat metastatic melanoma. The therapeutic strategy is to facilitate the infiltration of CAR-T cells by using magnetic nanoparticles to damage the tumour microenvironment, by magnetic and optic hyperthermia. The project aims at developing a proof of concept of the combined treatment for metastatic melanoma, while taking into account the safety, sustainability and ethical challenges.

Data: CORDIS, © European Union

Project objective

Metastatic melanoma is a hard-to-treat disease and it remains as one of the most worrisome cancer. There is an urgent need to improve the current therapies (chemotherapy, radiotherapy) that have a limited efficacy. A single therapy is not efficient to tackle metastatic melanoma and a combination of therapies is thus emerging as a necessity to efficiently eradicate all cancer cells. Recently, the development of immunotherapies has shown promises, in particular chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cells. Nevertheless, the physical barriers represented by cellular and non-cellular components of the tumor microenvironment combined to the abnormal tumor vasculature and high interstitial fluid pressure, hamper an efficient tumour infiltration of CAR-T cells. In this context, thanks to a network of 18 partners (including 10 non-academic partners), MELOMANES aims to train doctoral researchers for the development of a combined therapy exploiting the properties of magnetic nanoparticles to induce damage on the tumor microenvironment by magnetic and optic hyperthermia in order to facilitate the infiltration of CAR-T cells. This therapeutic approach combining hyperthermia and immunotherapy is versatile, as it could be also applied to other types of solid tumors. Research and transferable training of the doctoral researchers will be performed in a highly interdisciplinary, intersectoral, and international environment. In addition to acquiring skills related to the research project, they will be trained also in open science, communication and dissemination, responsible research and innovation, circular economy, ethics, data management, entrepreneurship, marketing, intellectual property, and gender dimension in research. Their competences will be validated through certification and qualification examination, allowing a new generation of highly skilled doctoral researchers to emerge with a high-level training in particular in the multidisciplinary field of nanomedicine.

Original text from CORDIS.

Participants

  • CENTRE NATIONAL DE LA RECHERCHE SCIENTIFIQUE CNRS · ParisCoordinatorFrance
  • CN BIO INNOVATIONS LIMITED · ThameUnited Kingdom
  • ECQA GMBH · Krems An Der DonauAustria
  • EIDGENOESSISCHE TECHNISCHE HOCHSCHULE ZUERICH · ZuerichSwitzerland
  • EIDGENOSSISCHE MATERIALPRUFUNGS- UND FORSCHUNGSANSTALT · DubendorfSwitzerland
  • FUNDACIO INSTITUT CATALA DE NANOCIENCIA I NANOTECNOLOGIA · BELLATERRA (BARCELONA)Spain
  • FUNDACION INSTITUTO DE INVESTIGACION MARQUES DE VALDECILLA · SantanderSpain
  • First Five Consulting, S.A. · LisboaPortugal
  • INSTITUT NATIONAL DE LA SANTE ET DE LA RECHERCHE MEDICALE · ParisFrance
  • INVECTYS · ParisCity levelFrance
  • LITHOZ GMBH · WienAustria
  • MALSCH NEELINANetherlands
  • MISVIK BIOLOGY OY · TURKUFinland
  • NANOTHERICS · Keele Newcastle Under LymeUnited Kingdom
  • NOVAMECHANICS LIMITED · NicosiaCyprus
  • OSLO UNIVERSITETSSYKEHUS HF · OsloNorway
  • PEPRIC NV · LeuvenCity levelBelgium
  • STICHTING VU · AmsterdamNetherlands
  • THE CYPRUS INSTITUTE · NicosiaCyprus
  • TURUN YLIOPISTO · TurkuFinland
  • UNIVERSIDAD DE CANTABRIA · SANTANDERSpain
  • UNIVERSITAT WIEN · WienAustria
  • UNIVERSITE DE STRASBOURG · StrasbourgFrance
  • UNIVERSITE PARIS CITE · ParisFrance
  • UNIVERSITETET I OSLO · OsloNorway

Links

Data: CORDIS, © European Union