Objective
Tumour cells survive and grow because they are not effectively recognized by the immune system as ¿foreign¿ and are therefore not attacked and destroyed like most pathogens. We have already demonstrated the clinical value of dendritic cell (DC) vaccines that activate the immune system to fight cancer. Treating more than 300 patients with metastatic melanoma, we achieved extended survival in 40% of patients by maturing dendritic cells from the patient¿s blood in-vitro, loading them with cancer-specific antigens and re-injecting them into the patient. These DCs then activate tumour-specific T cells in the lymph nodes. Our success in this area of research makes us a world leader in dendritic cell immunotherapy. However, despite these encouraging results, more work needs to be done if this type of therapy is to move into routine cancer care.
Therefore the primary objective of the research detailed in this proposal is to significantly enhance cancer treatment efficacy by developing multifunctional nano-sized vaccine carriers that specifically target DCs and T cells in-vivo. If successful, this will also eliminate the costly in-vitro steps associated with current dendritic cell therapy.
The recent discovery of pathogen recognition receptors on dendritic cells opens up the possibility of exploiting these receptors to target dendritic cells within the body. We will therefore develop highly functionalized, slow-release vaccine carriers that target DCs in this way. In order to directly activate tumour-specific T cells, we will develop highly flexible polyisocyanide polymers that mimic naturally occurring DCs. To functionalize these polymers, we aim to develop a revolutionary DNA-based bar-coding technique.
I expect this new approach leads to major advances in tumour immunotherapy.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-vocabularies/euroscivoc.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-vocabularies/euroscivoc.
- medical and health sciences clinical medicine oncology skin cancer melanoma
- medical and health sciences medical biotechnology nanomedicine
- medical and health sciences basic medicine pharmacology and pharmacy pharmaceutical drugs vaccines
- medical and health sciences basic medicine immunology immunotherapy
- medical and health sciences medical biotechnology cells technologies
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Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
ERC-2010-AdG_20100317
See other projects for this call
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Host institution
6525 XZ Nijmegen
Netherlands
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.