Menu
MapConnectionsTopicsBulgariaThe Night (K-TRIO)Marie Skłodowska-CurieFor studentsFor teachersMethodologySurprise me
HEIndividual fellowship2024–2026

OvaCTool · Personalized medicine in ovarian cancer: Design and development of a tool for response prediction to targeted platinated nanocarrier-based treatments

Horizon Europe — Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Duration
2024-01-16 → 2026-01-15
EU contribution
€181,153
Participants
1
Scheme
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF

Lines connect the coordinator with its partners.

Results in brief

Personalized medicine in ovarian cancer: Design and development of a tool for response prediction to targeted platinated nanocarrier-based treatments

Ovarian cancer is a serious health problem for women. It is hard to detect early because the symptoms are vague, and there aren't good screening tools. By the time it is diagnosed, it is often advanced and difficult to treat. Many patients develop resistance to treatments, and the cancer often comes back. This makes ovarian cancer the deadliest type of gynecological cancer, with only 40% of patients surviving five years after diagnosis. The OvaCTool project aims to help ovarian cancer patients by developing new, more effective treatments and a tool to predict which treatments will work best for each patient. Here is what the project involves: 1. Creating new cancer drugs: We aimed at developing special nanoparticles (tiny particles) that can carry cancer-fighting drugs directly to the tumor. These nanoparticles were made of iron and contained a form of platinum, which is known to kill cancer cells. 2. Understanding how cancer cells change: We aimed at studying how the proteins in ovarian cancer cells change after treatment. This information would help us understanding how the cancer responds to the new drugs. 3. Developing a prediction tool: Using an advanced technology called mass cytometry, we aimed at creating a tool that can analyze up to 50 different markers in cancer cells and their surrounding environment. This tool would help doctors predicting whether a patient is likely to respond well to the new treatments. 4. Studying how the body interacts with the nanoparticles: We aimed at investigating how proteins in the blood might stick to the nanoparticles, which could affect how well the treatment works when given to patients. Overall, the goal of this project was to create better cancer drugs and a way to choose the right treatment for each patient. This could lead to improved survival rates for women with ovarian cancer, giving them a better chance at beating this difficult disease. By the (early) end of the project, we had developed the platinum nanocarriers systems and evaluated them in ovarian cancer cells confirming their killing capacities.

Data: CORDIS, © European Union

Project objective

Personalized treatments are considered major challenges in clinical practice. They become particularly critical for diseases with poor prognoses diagnosed at later stages, such as ovarian cancer. Here, the vague symptoms, the lack of reliable screening tools and the treatment resistances have made this cancer the most lethal gynaecological malignancy (40% 5-year survival rate; 50-90% recurrence rate). Thus, ovarian cancer patients would certainly benefit from improved therapies and appropriate treatment choices. In this regard, the present OvaCTool project aims at developing a highly sensitive mass cytometer-based tool for the prediction of treatment response against newly designed targeted nanocarriers for platinum (Pt)-based chemotherapy in ovarian cancer. Specifically, diverse iron-based nanocarriers for Pt (IV) prodrugs targeting ovarian cancer cells will be evaluated. Such assessment will also include the understanding of ovarian cancer proteome changes after therapy. All this information will then be integrated to define biomarkers of treatment response which will be combined in a mass cytometry panel (up to 50 markers) together with proteins to identify other cells from the tumour microenvironment aiming at the stratification of patients into responders vs non-responders to the newly designed drugs. Likewise, protein corona formation on the nanostructures will be investigated to recognize potential challenges after intravenous injection of the drug in the clinical setting. In summary, this project will provide potential enhanced anticancer drugs and a prediction tool for targeted treatment choices which will help towards better survival rates for this malignant disease.

Original text from CORDIS.

Participants

  • UNIVERSIDAD DE OVIEDO · OVIEDOCoordinatorSpain

Links

Data: CORDIS, © European Union