Description du projet
Test de médicaments anticancéreux ciblant le récepteur RANK
Le cancer du sein triple négatif (CSTN) est communément diagnostiqué chez les femmes de moins de 40 ans. Il demeure un défi clinique en raison du taux élevé de rechute, de sa propension à former des métastases viscérales et du nombre limité de thérapies ciblées. Le projet TargetRANK, financé par le CER, permettra d’identifier de nouvelles thérapies ciblées pour le traitement du CSTN. Il repose sur l’idée innovante de générer de nouveaux médicaments ciblant le récepteur RANK – au lieu de son ligand RANKL, ainsi qu’un nouveau panel d’anticorps humains anti-RANK – à des fins de recherche et de diagnostic. Les principaux avantages de TargetRANK découlent du besoin non satisfait d’améliorer le traitement des patientes atteints de CSTN, et du fardeau économique que font peser les traitements anticancéreux standard non sélectionnés et inefficaces sur les systèmes de santé publique.
Objectif
Breast cancer is the most common malignancy among females in the western world, resulting in nearly half a million deaths annually, mainly due to metastatic disease. Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) accounts for almost 15–20% of all breast cancers (300.000 women diagnosed worldwide per year) and is commonly diagnosed in women younger than age 40. TNBC remains a clinical challenge due to high rate of relapse, a propensity to form visceral metastasis and limited targeted therapies. Thus, there is an urgent need to identify novel targeted therapies for the treatment of the TNBC. TargetRANK is based on the innovative idea of generating novel drugs targeting RANK receptor – instead of its ligand RANKL – for the treatment of TNBC, as well as a new panel of anti-RANK human antibodies – for research and diagnostic purposes. Small molecule inhibitors generated during the project could plausibly be positioned as a novel targeted therapy for TNBC and anti-RANK antibodies commercialized for research applications due to the lack of specific antibodies on the market. The most important benefits of TargetRANK are based on the unmet need to improve the treatment of TNBC patients, and the economic burden for public health systems generated by standard non-selected and ineffective cancer treatments. In addition, if drugs against RANK prove to be efficient, TargetRANK derived assets could also clinically benefit most of the patients suffering bone metastasis that are currently treated with bone resorption drugs, denosumab and bisphosphonates. Although our products are aimed for breast cancer, they may be therapeutically relevant for other tumors expressing RANK as non-small cell lung cancer. RANK antibodies will allow to stratify patients that might benefit from RANK blocking molecules, improving the existing treatments for skeletal-related events and reducing the main complications associated with life-altering morbidity affecting several types of prevalent cancers.
Champ scientifique
Mots‑clés
Programme(s)
- HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC) Main Programme
Régime de financement
HORIZON-ERC-POC - HORIZON ERC Proof of Concept GrantsInstitution d’accueil
28029 Madrid
Espagne