CARESS - A NEW DIAGNOSTIC TOOL TO EVALUATE COMPATIBILITY OF CHEMOTHERAPY
1 May 2013 - 30 April 2015
Austria
Cancer is the most common cause of death in Europe, with around 3,2 million new cases and 2 million deaths each year, with an increasing trend, as reported by WHO. It’s the therapeutic approach used to fight this plague that is casting a doubt on the severe side effects of chemotherapy. Amongst all the chemotherapy agents, 5-FU (fluorouracil) is being in use since 40 years, and is one of the most successful and widely employed in the treatment for breast, colon, and skin cancer.
The novelty of the proposed approach to measure the DPD activity relies on the use of a “molecular probe”, perfectly analogous to 5-FU which interacts with the DPD in the blood in the same way as 5-FU. The operating principle of the CARESS system relies on the researches performed by the selected RTD performers CNR and ICO.
The protocol will be automatized in the first, compact, cheap, accurate and standard system for measuring the DPD activity, thus allowing for fast screening of DPD deficiency; this will be the immediate short term result deriving from the project.
The novelty of the proposed approach to measure the DPD activity relies on the use of a “molecular probe”, perfectly analogous to 5-FU which interacts with the DPD in the blood in the same way as 5-FU. The operating principle of the CARESS system relies on the researches performed by the selected RTD performers CNR and ICO.
The protocol will be automatized in the first, compact, cheap, accurate and standard system for measuring the DPD activity, thus allowing for fast screening of DPD deficiency; this will be the immediate short term result deriving from the project.