Project description
Improving anti-tumour immune responses
Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) are a class of drugs that block proteins used by cancer cells to evade the immune system, thereby allowing immune cells to better recognise and attack tumours. Although these inhibitors have shown significant promise in treating various cancers, the effect is not durable. With this in mind, the EU-funded ZAP Cancer project proposes to combine ICIs with electrochemotherapy, an approach that uses electric pulses to enhance drug delivery into cancer cells. The rationale is that these approaches will work in synergy to enhance the anti-tumour immune response.
Objective
More than a decade has passed since the first immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) was approved for the treatment of advanced melanoma, marking the beginning of immunotherapies in cancer treatment. However, even in the best scenarios with a combination of ICIs and standard therapies, durable benefit is not achieved in about half of patients. Therefore, new approaches are needed on how best to exploit the potential of ICIs. The scientific aim of the ZAP cancer project is to determine how a local ablative technique, electrochemotherapy with BLM, CDDP or OXA induced immunogenic cell death (ICD), can be combined with gene electrotransfer of pDNA encoding ICIs to elicit a systemic anti-tumor immune response. The ZAP cancer project plans to improve access to scientific excellence, optimize research management and accelerate the exchange of personnel, knowledge and ideas in the European Research Area (ERA) and the two participating institutions from the widening countries; the Institute of Oncology Ljubljana (IOLJ) and the Faculty of Health Sciences (FHS) of University of Ljubljana. ZAP cancer will expand the existing collaborative network with three leading European institutions: Institute of Pharmacology and Structural Biology, a department of the CNRS (IPBS-CNRS), Toulouse, France, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (KUL), Leuven, Belgium, The Institute of Translational Pharmacology, Institute of the Italian National Research Council (CNR) and a new partner: The Medical University of Graz (MUG), Graz, Austria. Through the proposed project, a multidisciplinary network of cancer research centers will collaborate to establish a state-of-the-art, high-throughput multi-omics in vitro and in vivo research platform at IOLJ and FHS that will provide them with valuable new expertise and knowledge that will enhance their potential for future successful applications at the European and international levels.
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 skin cancer melanoma
- medical and health sciences basic medicine pharmacology and pharmacy
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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.4.1 - Widening participation and spreading excellence
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-CSA - HORIZON Coordination and Support Actions
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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) HORIZON-WIDERA-2023-ACCESS-02
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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.
1000 Ljubljana
Slovenia
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.