Project description
Unveiling the hidden spread of cancer
Most cancer deaths occur because of metastases. These are the tiny, often undetectable cells that spread to other organs. Detecting these early, especially in the liver, could transform treatment and survival. However, current imaging tools like MRI lack the sensitivity to spot them. With this in mind, the ERC-funded MicroMetSCAN project aims to build on advances in MRI technology. It will develop ultra-high-resolution methods capable of revealing micrometastases long before they grow into larger tumours. By refining contrast and analysing tissue changes, MicroMetSCAN will improve early cancer diagnosis and shed light on how metastases form and evolve.
Objective
Over 90% of cancer-related deaths are caused by metastases. A major obstacle for accurate patient stratification, development of new treatments against metastases and thorough biological understanding is our inability to detect early-stage micrometastases (µMets). The liver is one of the first and most common sites for metastases, particularly in gastrointestinal tract tumours. Thus, early detection of liver metastases is an urgent need in cancer diagnosis for many patients. Present image-based diagnostic methods, including state-of-the-art Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), cannot detect µMets due to major limitations in current image contrast and resolution, as well as a lack of understanding of liver tissue changes during the metastatic process.
MicroMetSCAN proposes a paradigm-shifting MRI approach based on highly promising preliminary results that leverages recent progress in MRI acquisition, denoising and contrast generation, to reach the breakthrough of exquisite sensitivity and specificity required to detect and characterise μMets in the liver and provide new insights about metastases-related tissue microenvironment dynamics. To achieve its overarching goal, my proposal consists of four objectives: 1) developing new ultra-high resolution MRI methods targeting robust µMets detection, 2) tailoring the specificity of contrasts towards μMet environments, 3) unravelling the transformations from µMets to full metastases in animal models, yielding critical insights into tumour growth patterns, and 4) translating the new MRI approach to the clinic in a prospective clinical study.
MicroMetSCAN will significantly advance the state-of-the-art in cancer imaging, to enable precision diagnosis and treatment planning, with wide-reaching applicability, especially benefitting small lesion detection. Furthermore, it will unveil important biological insights on the progression of metastasis, guiding future therapeutic strategies for better prognosis and outcomes.
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.
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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.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 - HORIZON ERC 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-2024-STG
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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.
WC2R 2LS London
United Kingdom
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.