INFORMATII GENERALE
Titlu proiect: „Mecanisme si biomarkeri de raspuns si rezistenta la terapiile curente tintite ale cancerului gastric”
Cod proiect complex: PN-III-P4-ID-PCCF2016-0158
Nr contract: PCCF 17/2018
Acronim: THERRES
Autoritatea de finantare: Unitatea Executiva pentru Finantarea Invatamantului Superior, a Cercetarii Dezvoltarii si Inovarii (UEFISCDI)
Competitia:PN-III-P4-ID-PCCF 2016
Coordonator: Institutul Clinic Fundeni
Director de proiect: Prof Dr Irinel Popescu
Durata proiect: 19.10.2018 – 20.10.2022 (48 luni)
Valoarea totala a proiectului: 8.400.000 lei
Bugetul alocat pentru Institutului Clinic Fundeni: 3.400.000 lei
PARTENERI
Institutii partenere in proiect:
P1 – Universitatea de Medicina si Farmacie din Craiova
Responsabil Partener: Prof. Dr. Adrian Saftoiu
P2 – Institutul de Virusologie „Stefan S. Nicolau”
Responsabil Partener: CSII Dr. Mihaela Economescu
OBIECTIVE
Cancerul gastric (CG) este o boala heterogena, cu aproape un milion de cazuri noi care apar in fiecare an la nivel mondial. Cercetari recente ofera posibilitatea fara precedent de a face progrese substantiale in terapia CG. Terapiile tintite au revolutionat tratamentul CG, dar beneficiile raman limitate la cateva luni de crestere a supravietuirii. Provocarea actuala este de a stratifica cat mai bine pacientii in vederea implementarii unei terapii adecvate, si de a identifica rezistenta primara si dobandita la medicamente. Pana in prezent au fost efectuate putine studii pentru a evalua biomarkerii de raspuns la terapia anti-HER2, anti-MET, anti-VEGFR2 in CG, precum si punctele de control ale sistemului imun care contribuie la dezvoltarea rezistentei tumorale. Mai mult, combinarea terapiei tintite cu inhibarea punctelor de control ale sistemului imun – domeniul actual cel mai interesant si activ in cercetare datorita raspunsurilor durabile observate in melanomul malign si cancerul pulmonar – se numara printre ariile noi de frontiera in cercetarea tarapiei antitumorale si ar putea reprezenta o dezvoltare majora in tratamentul CG.
Institutul Clinic Fundeni si cei doi parteneri (UMF Craiova și Institutul de Virusologie „Stefan S. Nicolau”), organizații publice de cercetare cu tradiție in domeniul biomedical, isi propun sa dezvolte colaborarea trans-disciplinara clinica, academica, economica si sa creeze prin sinergie o agenda comuna de CDI. Prin corelarea si coordonarea activitatilor si resurselor, proiectul se concentrează asupra valorificării infrastructurii de cercetare a partenerilor.
Rezultatele ar putea avea o importanță majoră în domeniul terapiei cancerului gastric, contribuind la îmbunătățirea calității vieții si supraviețuirii pacienților cu cancer gastric, prin traducerea rezultatelor științifice în noi oportunități de tratament personalizate.
Obiectiv general
THERRES este un proiect extrem de ambitios si inovator dedicat unui domeniu de actualitate: asocierea imunoterapiei cu medicamente orientate molecular in cancerul gastric, ca metoda moderna de tratament. Proiectul urmareste implementarea unui nou sistem de clasificare pentru a distinge subtipurile de cancer gastric si a caracteriza reglatorii activarii functiei imunitare (immune checkpoints).
Obiectivele specifice ale proiectului sunt:
Obiectivul 1: Identificarea de biomarkeri si tinte potentiale pentru terapie in subtipurile de CG definite pe baza clasificarilor genomice recente
Obiectivul 2: Identificarea de biomarkeri de raspuns si de rezistenta la terapia standard anti-HER2, anti-MET si anti-VEGF in CG
Obiectivul 3: Caracterizarea particularitatilor stromei vasculare in CG, inclusiv a rolului punctelor de control ale sistemului imun in subtipuri de CG.
Ca rezultat cheie, proiectul va genera instrumente de decizie pentru tratamentul si managementul pacientilor cu CG printr-o abordare personalizata. Rezultatele prezentului proiect vor contribui la imbunatatirea performantelor, calitatii si vizibilitatii internationale a rezultatelor stiintifice romanesti in domeniul oncologic.
GENERAL INFORMATION
THERRES
Project title: „Mechanisms and biomarkers of response and resistance to current targeted therapies in gastric cancer”
Project code: PN-III-P4-ID-PCCF2016-0158
Contract number: PCCF 17/2018
Acronym: THERRES
Contracting Authority: Executive Unit for Financing Higher Education, Research, Development and Innovation (UEFISCDI)
Competition: PN-III-P4-ID-PCCF 2016
Project Coordinator:Fundeni Clinical Institute
Project Director: Prof Dr Irinel Popescu
Project duration: 19.10.2018 – 20.10.2022 (48 luni)
Total contract value: 8.400.000 lei
Total budget for Fundeni Clinical Institute: 3.400.000,00 lei
PARTNERS
Partner institutions:
P1 – Craiova University of Medicine and Pharmacy, project director: Prof. Dr. Adrian Saftoiu
P2 – Virusology Insitute „Stefan S. Nicolau”, project director: CSII Dr. Mihaela Economescu
OBJECTIVES
Gastric cancer (GC) is a heterogeneous disease, with almost one million new cases every year on a global scale. Recent research offers previously unavailable opportunities to make substantial progress in GC therapy. Targeted therapies have revolutionized GC treatment, but benefit remain limited, with only a few months increase in overall survival. The current challenge is the proper stratification of patients, in order to implement an adequate therapy, and to identify primary and acquired resistance to treatment. So far, there have been few studies which have evaluated response biomarkers to anti-HER2, anti-MET, anti-VEGFR2 therapy in GC, as well as immune checkpoints which contribute to tumor resistance. Furthermore, combining targeted therapies with immune checkpoint inhibitors – a very active and interesting area of research due to durable response observed in pulmonary cancer and malignant melanoma – is amongst the new areas of research in antitumoral therapy and could represent a major development in GC treatment
Fundeni Clinical Institute and its two partners (UMP Craiova and the Virusology Institute „Stefan S. Nicolau”), public research organizations with a history in the biomedical field, aim to develop trans-disciplinary clinical, academic and economical collaboration, and to create through this synergy a common agenda of CDI. As such, this project focuses on the valorification of the research infrastructure of the partners.
Results could have a major importance in the field of gastric cancer therapies, contributing to an improved quality of life and overall survival of GC patients, by translating scientific results in new opportunities of personalized treatment.
Main objective
THERRES is an extremely ambitious and innovative project, focusing on the association of immunotherapy with molecular oriented drugs in gastric cancer, as a modern method of treatment. The project aims to implement a new classification system to distinguish between gastric cancer subtypes and to characterize regulatory molecules of immune function (immune checkpoints)
Specific objectives:
Objective 1: Identification of biomarkers and potential therapy targets in GC subtypes defined on the basis of recent genomic classifications
Objective 2: Identifying response and resistance biomarkers to standard anti-HER2, anti-MET and anti-VEGF therapy in GC
Objective 3: Characterizing vascular stroma particularities in GC, including the role on immune checkpoints in GC subtypes.
As a key result, the project will generate instruments to guide treatment decisions and help in the management of GC patients through a personalized approach. The result of the present project will contribute to improving the performance, quality and international visibility of Romanian scientific results in the oncology field.