Project description
Advancing pancreatic cancer treatment with microbiota-derived metabolites
The gut microbiota, consisting of trillions of microorganisms inhabiting the digestive tract, plays a crucial role in regulating immune responses throughout the body. This symbiotic relationship influences various aspects of health, including immune function and inflammation. In cancer, emerging research suggests that the gut microbiome can impact tumour initiation, progression, and response to treatment. Funded by the European Research Council, the ACT-PC project focuses on metastatic pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) and its dismal response to chemotherapy. Researchers aim to test specific microbiota-derived metabolites to enhance chemotherapy efficacy and anti-tumour immunity for PDAC patients before proceeding to clinical validation.
Objective
The prognosis with metastatic pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma PDAC is simply terrible, especially for those that do not respond to the chemotherapy, which is regarded as the standard therapy in most patients. More than half of the patients are non-responders and eventually pass away within months. It is therefore urgently needed to understand the differences among responder and non-responder patients, to develop alternative therapies that overcome the resistance and potentially further extend the survival for both groups. A recent hypothesis proposes the key role of microbiome and of the immune response in regard to tumor initiation, progression, as well as response to therapies. Diet, as a variable, introduces an additional layer of complexity, given its multifaceted impact on both the human microbiome and immune system, as our recent manuscript show. The metabolites produced by gut microbiota are influenced not only by diet, but also by a host of other factors. In ACT-PC, we propose the use of one or a combination of different microbiota-derived metabolites as a treatment to increase the efficacy of chemotherapy and at the same time to boost anti tumor immunity for PDAC patients. The overall goal of ACT-PC is to initiate the preclinical validation of specific microbiota-derived metabolites for improving treatment outcomes in PDAC patients. This project is designed to take our Technology Readiness Level from 2 to 4, enabling us to finalise the preclinical development within a subsequent EIC Transition and initiate clinical validation and development soon after. In implementing the projects results we will leverage the PIs unique network that includes commercial partners and patient organisations.
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.
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.
- medical and health sciences clinical medicine oncology prostate cancer
- medical and health sciences health sciences nutrition
- natural sciences biological sciences microbiology
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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-POC - HORIZON ERC Proof of Concept 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-2023-POC
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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.
20251 Hamburg
Germany
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.