Objective
Pancreatic adenocarcinoma is the deadliest solid cancer and currently the fourth most frequent cause for cancer related deaths. Over the past decades, there has hardly been any substantial therapeutic progress regarding clinical endpoints. New hope has now been generated by the re-emerging cancer stem cell (CSC) concept. We have identified and characterized pancreatic CSC in the context of tumour growth, metastasis, and resistance to chemotherapy. To eventually be able to develop a targeted therapy for eliminating CSCs as the root of the tumour, we will perform comparative functional and genomic analyses of the identified, highly purified human CSC populations, their more differentiated progenies, normal tissue resident stem cells, and hematopoietic stem cells. For these analyses, we are also focusing on their demonstrated resistance of CSC to chemotherapy as well as their invasive properties and tumour-initiating capacity as demonstrated in our orthotopic mouse models. Subsequent functional characterization of newly identified genes regarding their biological function for tumour angiogenesis, invasiveness, and metastasis will be carried out. Moreover, it is similarly important to investigate in parallel the origin of CSCs, which may aid us to develop new therapeutic strategies to prevent transformation of tissue-resident stem cells. The role of risk factors that have been associated with the development of pancreatic cancer, namely smoking and chronic pancreatitis will be investigated in this context. Together, the above experiments will generate important clues how CSCs circumvent the physiological regulatory elements of stem cell functionality and, even more importantly, how these cells escape the response to standard cancer therapy. Eventually, these new insights may allow us to develop novel targeted and multimodal treatment modalities for the successful elimination of these cells as the previously unrecognized root of the tumour.
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: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- medical and health sciences clinical medicine oncology prostate cancer
- medical and health sciences medical biotechnology cells technologies stem cells
- medical and health sciences clinical medicine oncology pancreatic cancer
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
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-2008-AdG
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
28029 Madrid
Spain
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.