TRAINING IN TRANSLATIONAL PROTOCOLS FOR MINIMAL INVASIVE DIAGNOSIS AND THERAPY IN PANCREATICO-BILIARY CANCERS

Project Information

TRIP

Grant agreement ID: 101079210

DOI

10.3030/101079210

Project closed

EC signature date 17 August 2022

Start date 1 September 2022

End date 31 August 2025

Funded under

• Widening participation and spreading excellence

Total cost

€ 1 383 723,93

EU contribution

€ 1 383 723,93

Coordinated by

UNIVERSITATEA DE MEDICINA SI FARMACIE CAROL DAVILA DIN BUCURESTI
Romania

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - TRIP (TRAINING IN TRANSLATIONAL PROTOCOLS FOR MINIMAL INVASIVE DIAGNOSIS AND THERAPY IN PANCREATICO-BILIARY CANCERS)

Reporting period: 2022-09-01 to 2025-08-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

The overall aim of the project is to strengthen the strategic partnership of UMFCD (and its affiliated hospitals), located in Romania, with three internationally-leading counterparts at the EU level (RHH in DENMARK, AMC in the NETHERLANDS and UCL in the UNITED KINGDOM) in order to enhance scientific collaboration and networking activities among these institutions and to combine their skills and competences in the field of pancreatic cancer screening strategies, minimal invasive endoscopic interventions used for early diagnosis / staging, but also for personalised therapy.
To reach the overall aim, the specific objectives of the project are:
O1. To strengthen the research excellence of UMFCD in the field of precision medicine tools used for the early diagnosis and minimal-invasive therapy of pancreatico-biliary cancers;
O2. To enhance the scientific visibility of UMFCD and open new strategic networking opportunities (joint project applications, secondments of young researchers and senior staff) with the internationally leading counterparts (RHH/UCL/AMC);
O3. To increase the competitiveness of UMFCD in national, EU and international research grant competitions (competitive individual grant applications, joint collaborative project applications);
O4. To develop new (and ongoing) joint research projects in the field of endoscopic minimal invasive interventions of pancreatico-biliary cancers, with emphasis also on translational components;
O5. To develop a multicentre protocol for a research project on pancreatic organoid cultures derived from EUS-FNB specimens in patients with pancreatic cancer;
O6. To improve UMFCD researchers’ and research support staff profiles with a special reference to early stage researchers (ESRs) (PhDs / postdocs of the Widening country institution & mentors from the partner institutions) that will benefit from the increased inwards and outwards mobility;
O7. To expand innovation and raise reputation at UMFCD (and its affiliated hospitals) based on intensive training in clinical research through:
- O7.1 Introduction of new innovative medical services performed for the patients, including a second opinion platform and a high-risk clinic;
- O7.2 Dissemination and outreach activities based on specific research results of the early-stage researchers including common workshops, conference attendance, publication of articles and reviews;
- O7.3 Development of a second opinion website to be used for cases uploaded from all over the country, with tumor board functions used to determine the best possible cancer treatment and care plan for individual patients;
O8. To strengthen the research management capacities and administrative skills of the staff working in institutions from the Widening country (UMFCD and its affiliated clinical hospitals).

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

Beyond the state of the art, TRIP did not only disseminate knowledge; it converted training into tangible, sustainable assets that remain operational after project end. The project created an integrated clinic–data–lab loop in pancreatology, combining structured education and mobility with new clinical services, GDPR-compliant registries, a digital second-opinion pathway and a multicentre organoid protocol.

Main results and named outputs beyond the state of the art
• High-Risk Pancreatic Clinic (UMFCD): first dedicated unit in Romania with two components (hereditary high-risk surveillance and pancreatic cyst surveillance), operational since April 2025, and embedded into routine follow-up workflows.
• Two GDPR-compliant registries supporting high-risk surveillance and research readiness (hereditary risk registry + cyst surveillance registry) hosted under the High-Risk Clinic infrastructure (https://highriskclinic.umfcd.ro).
• National pilot pancreatic cancer screening protocol and database architecture aligned with international standards (CAPS and Dutch models), integrating MRI/EUS follow-up and biomarker capture.
• TRIP Second Opinion Platform (https://tripproject.umfcd.ro): a secure digital interface for remote expert case evaluation, including structured intake, file upload, case assignment and expert review modules; demonstrated internally and planned for integration with UMFCD’s digital health hub.
• Multicentre PDAC organoid protocol (D7.1) and implementation pathway from EUS-FNB sampling to culture establishment and pharmacotyping, enabling future precision-oncology trials and translational studies.
• Clinical innovation in advanced EUS: implementation of contrast-enhanced harmonic EUS with inflow-time mapping (ITM), AI-powered contrast harmonic imaging EUS (CHI-EUS), and EUS-guided 2D shear-wave elastography (2D-SWE), supported by training and partner harmonisation.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

Key figures (project completion)
• Training and knowledge transfer: 6 webinars; 3 postgraduate courses; 2 international workshops; 2 summer schools; and project-management training sessions embedded in consortium meetings.
• Mobility and career development: 6 short-term exchanges completed (AUMC ×4, RHH ×1, UCL ×1), aligned with screening, organoid and advanced endoscopy pipelines.
• Dissemination and open science: 21 peer-reviewed publications reported, with 19 flagged as open access (OA); >30 conference presentations; >20,000 social-media views and >40,000 online reads reported through the dissemination plan.
• Translational feasibility: >30 EUS-FNB samples processed for organoid culture with proof-of-concept success in ~70% of cases.

Long-term value and sustainability
TRIP’s sustainability is anchored in (i) operational services (High-Risk Clinic and Second Opinion Platform), (ii) reusable protocols (screening registry architecture and the multicentre organoid SOP), and (iii) follow-on programmes that scale the assets nationally and strategically (e.g. NEW-TRIP, ROGEN, SMART-STEP). These outputs provide a durable foundation for multicentre trials, translational pipelines and continued training in pancreatobiliary endoscopy and precision oncology.