Project description
A blood test for pancreatic cancer diagnosis
Tumours release tiny amounts of cells or cellular material into the blood circulation. This is the basis for the diagnosis potential of liquid biopsies which, however, often suffer from reduced sensitivity or specificity. The EU-funded PANCAID project focuses on developing a diagnostic test for pancreatic cancer, one of the leading causes of cancer-related deaths worldwide. The test will combine multiple biomarkers and AI for analysis for high accuracy and sensitivity. Given the dismal prognosis of pancreatic cancer, the PANCAID test is expected to assist early detection for better management and clinical outcomes.
Objective
Pancreatic cancer (PDAC) is usually detected at late stages and most patients die within one year after diagnosis. In PANCAID we will therefore develop a blood test for early detection of PDAC. Despite tremendous technological advances in Liquid Biopsy Diagnostics (LBx), this goal is very ambitious because small tumors release only minute amounts of cells or cellular products (e.g. DNA, RNA, protein, metabolites) into the circulation. Thus, tests with a high sensitivity are required but increases in sensitivity are usually achieved on the expenses of reduced specificity which can lead to significant overdiagnosis leading to unnecessary stress for the individuals with a false-positive blood test and high costs for the health system. In PANCAID, we will therefore establish a blood test with high accuracy by analyzing large cohorts of patients with PDAC and its precursor lesions, individuals at risk to develop PDAC and appropriate age-matched control groups (healthy and non-cancer diseases frequent in the targeted population).
Ambitious objectives of PANCAID include (1) establishment of a unique resource of blood samples of early PDAC and risk groups (WP1); (2) Establishment of a breakthrough blood test for early diagnosis of PDAC (WP2); (3) Identification of the best composite biomarker panel by integrating multimodal features in an AI-assisted computational analysis; (4) Analysis of the socio-economic impact of early PDAC diagnosis (WP4); and (5) Definition of the ethics parameters relevant to early PDAC detection (WP5). A robust multi-biomarker panel will be determined during the training period (year 1-3) and subsequently validated on bio-banked blood samples (year 4-5). Depending on the outcome of this comprehensive analysis, PANCAID will provide the design of a future prospective study for validation of the developed composite blood test in an international multi-center setting required to introduce LBx into screening programs for high-risk individuals. This action is part of the Cancer Mission cluster of projects on ‘Prevention, including Screening’.
Fields of science
- natural sciencesbiological sciencesgeneticsDNA
- natural sciencesbiological sciencesbiochemistrybiomoleculesproteins
- natural sciencesbiological sciencesgeneticsRNA
- engineering and technologymedical engineeringmedical laboratory technologylaboratory samples analysis
- medical and health sciencesclinical medicineoncologypancreatic cancer
Keywords
Programme(s)
- HORIZON.2.1 - Health Main Programme
Funding Scheme
HORIZON-RIA - HORIZON Research and Innovation ActionsCoordinator
20251 Hamburg
Germany
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Participants (18)
17177 Stockholm
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28029 Madrid
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8010 Graz
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901 87 Umea
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1000 Bruxelles / Brussel
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82256 FURSTENFELDBRUCK
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The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.
23562 Lübeck
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Legal entity other than a subcontractor which is affiliated or legally linked to a participant. The entity carries out work under the conditions laid down in the Grant Agreement, supplies goods or provides services for the action, but did not sign the Grant Agreement. A third party abides by the rules applicable to its related participant under the Grant Agreement with regard to eligibility of costs and control of expenditure.
24118 Kiel
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34000 Montpellier
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69120 Heidelberg
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751 05 Uppsala
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91904 Jerusalem
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182 33 DANDERYD
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The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.
68125 Tel Aviv
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28034 Madrid
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Participation ended
20251 Hamburg
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104 22 Stockholm
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20251 Hamburg
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Partners (1)
Partner organisations contribute to the implementation of the action, but do not sign the Grant Agreement.
CB2 1TN Cambridge
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