Skip to main content
Go to the home page of the European Commission (opens in new window)
English English
CORDIS - EU research results
CORDIS

Development of a ncRNA DNA Methylation Kit for Treatment Guidance in Cancer of Unknown Primary

Objective

The innovative idea behind the EPIPHARM (EPIgenetics of PHARMacogenetics) project is to develop a package demonstrating the feasibility of a high-throughput tool for epigenotyping Cancer of Unknown Primary (CUP) to identify a drug sensitivity fingerprint based in the DNA methylation profile of non-coding RNA (ncRNA) loci. CUPs are a heterogeneous group of cancers defined by the presence of metastatic disease with no identified primary tumor at presentation. The CUP outcome is extremely poor with an expected death within the first six months of the diagnosis. CUP has been reported to comprise approximately 5% of all cancer cases in the world. Despite the introduction of new image technologies and immunohistochemistry methods, more than 50% of CUPs remain anonymous regarding their primary tumor site of origin and, as mentioned, their prognoses are dismal. For most patients with CUP, recommended treatments involves just empiric chemotherapy, usually with a taxane/platinum or gemcitabine/platinum regimens that achieve the described modest clinical benefit. Thus, it is necessary to have better tools to guide the pharmacological treatment of CUP cases. As part of the ERC Advanced Grant “Epigenetic Disruption on Non-Coding RNAs in Human Cancer” (EPINORC) we identified CpG methylation changes in a wide variety of ncRNAs (microRNAs, lincRNAs, T-UCRs, snoRNAs, piRNAs...) that showed a tumor-type specific pattern that has allowed the successful development of the EPICUP assay for the diagnoses of CUPs that it has been licensed and it is undergoing final clinical validation. In the current EPIPHARM Proof of Concept (PoC) proposal, we plan to optimize a ncRNA DNA methylation assay that includes a user-friendly and cost effective approach to improve the therapy of CUP cases by providing a more personalized drug treatment to an extent that will make it interesting commercially for the health providers and their associated company partners.

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.

You need to log in or register to use this function

Programme(s)

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.

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.

ERC-POC - Proof of Concept Grant

See all projects funded under this funding scheme

Call for proposal

Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.

(opens in new window) ERC-2016-PoC

See all projects funded under this call

Host institution

FUNDACIO INSTITUT D'INVESTIGACIO BIOMEDICA DE BELLVITGE
Net EU contribution

Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.

€ 119 345,00
Address
AVENIDA GRAN VIA HOSPITALET 199-203
08908 L'Hospitalet De Llobregat
Spain

See on map

Region
Este Cataluña Barcelona
Activity type
Research Organisations
Links
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.

€ 119 345,00

Beneficiaries (2)

My booklet 0 0