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Content archived on 2024-06-18

Focused ultrasound under magnetic resonance guidance for targeted drug delivery in the brain

Objective

Patients with brain tumours have limited treatment options and could benefit from new treatments. Focused ultrasound (FUS) combined with a microbubble agent, under guidance of magnetic resonance (MR) imaging, has been used in animal studies to temporarily open the blood-brain-barrier (BBB). The BBB normally protects the brain by blocking most substances from the blood and is a hurdle to the use of therapeutic agents in the brain. The ability to use FUS induced BBB disruption to target drugs to desired volumes in the brain presents a potentially huge advance for neuroscience. The method can also increase the permeability of the blood-tumour barrier, which often retains many characteristics of the normal BBB. To translate this technique to clinical applications, the effectiveness of the technique should be demonstrated. Patients with no or limited treatment options are probably the most willing candidates to participate in a clinical trial, e.g. breast cancer patients with brain metastases. For extracranial metastases in breast cancer patients two antibody agents have shown good results. Their effectiveness in brain metastases is limited, due to the BBB. Permeabilization of the BBB might improve survival in this group of patients. Animal studies with these drugs will be performed to study the survival and tumour progression in rats. The rats will be divided in different treatment groups, animals that 1) get one or both drugs combined with FUS induced BBB permeabilization; 2) only get one or both drugs; 3) only receive FUS induced BBB permeabilization; and 4) receive no treatment. The results of this project will guide future clinical studies. MRguided FUS for targeted drug delivery in the brain is a new and revolutionary technique, with possibilities in many diseases of the central nervous system. As there is limited research in Europe involving this technique, it is important for the ERA to increase the knowledge in Europe and expand research on this topic.

Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)

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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.

Call for proposal

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FP7-PEOPLE-2012-IOF
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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.

MC-IOF - International Outgoing Fellowships (IOF)

Coordinator

STICHTING RADBOUD UNIVERSITEIT
EU contribution
€ 259 745,10
Address
HOUTLAAN 4
6525 XZ Nijmegen
Netherlands

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Region
Oost-Nederland Gelderland Arnhem/Nijmegen
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
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Total cost

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.

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