Project description
Recurrent brain tumours: exploiting the brain microenvironment for novel therapies
Considerable progress has been made in treating and curing certain types of cancer, but glioblastoma remains a deadly challenge. It is one of the most aggressive types of cancer, formed from glial tissue of the central nervous system. Despite initial response to therapy, all tumours recur as incurable lesions and these recurrences, not the primary tumours, are ultimately responsible for patient deaths. Most recurrences occur in the post-radiotherapy microenvironment, yet most experimental models are based on primary disease. Building on their findings that radiotherapy can create tumour microenvironment conditions conducive to recurrent tumour growth, the EU-funded RESISTANCEPROGRAMS project will explore this environment and exploit it in novel therapeutic opportunities.
Objective
Gliomas are the most common brain tumors and the highest-grade glioma, glioblastoma (GBM), is arguably the most aggressive tumor type, with no long-term survivors. Patients with GBM are treated with radiotherapy, chemotherapy, surgery, and tumor treating fields. Despite initial response all tumors recur as incurable lesions; there is an urgent need for novel therapeutic approaches for this patient group. The majority of GBMs recur within the treatment field receiving high-dose radiotherapy during treatment of the primary tumor; the recurrent tumor thus forms in an irradiated microenvironment. Despite the fact that it is the recurrent tumor that ultimately kills the patient and that the majority of new therapeutic agents for GBM are tested clinically in the recurrent setting, the majority of experimental models and clinical materials for drug discovery are based on primary disease. Recent advances established a central role for the tumor microenvironment in determining the therapeutic response of GBM cells, and our lab demonstrated that standard of care radiotherapy of the primary tumor can shape the microenvironment to generate tumor-supportive conditions in the recurrent tumor; These findings suggest that there is untapped potential in targeting the irradiated microenvironment. This proposal aims to explore and exploit the recurrent brain tumor microenvironment by i) consolidating the contribution of the irradiated brain tumor microenvironment to GBM resistance by integrating spatial transcriptomics, single cell RNA sequencing, and multiplexed immunohistochemistry from state-of-the-art murine and human models of GBM treatment and recurrence, and ii) discovering and targeting novel therapeutic targets unique to the post-radiotherapy brain tumor microenvironment by high-throughput phenotypic screening, with the ultimate goal of exploiting reversible stromal radiation responses and leverage novel therapeutic opportunities unique to the irradiated brain.
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.
This project's classification has been validated by the project's team.
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.
This project's classification has been validated by the project's team.
- medical and health sciences basic medicine pharmacology and pharmacy drug resistance
- medical and health sciences clinical medicine oncology
- medical and health sciences basic medicine pathology
- medical and health sciences basic medicine neurology
- natural sciences biological sciences molecular biology
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.
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HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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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.
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.
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.
HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC Grants
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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.
(opens in new window) ERC-2021-COG
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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.
22100 Lund
Sweden
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.