Project description
3D tumour models for personalised pancreatic cancer therapy
The tumour microenvironment (TME) comprises a complex network of stroma, immune cells, and extracellular matrix (ECM) components that contribute to cancer progression and affect treatment response. Existing in vitro cancer models do not faithfully mimic the TME, limiting progress in personalised medicine. The ERC-funded SPOTTED project addresses this gap by developing patient-derived, 3D pancreatic cancer models integrated into a microfluidic platform. The proposed system will combine organoids and ECM hydrogels to replicate the native architecture of tumours. The rationale is to use them for high-throughput drug testing to improve predictive accuracy and accelerate therapy development for pancreatic and other solid cancers.
Objective
Cancer remains a leading global cause of death, with incidence projected to increase significantly by 2050. Despite advances in detection and treatment, there is an urgent need for more effective and personalized therapies. Personalized medicine (PM) is emerging as the future of cancer care, using 3D patient-specific models to replicate the tumors complexity. Current in vitro models struggle to accurately mimic the tumor microenvironment (TME), including the extracellular matrix (ECM) and stromal interactions, which are critical to tumor progression and therapy response.
SPOTTED aims to address these limitations by developing patient-derived (PD) in vitro models integrated into a microfluidic device, by exploiting patient-derived organoids (PDOs) from bioptic tissues from the Biobanca di Ricerca of the University Hospital of Padua. The first vertical case study is on pancreatic cancer (PC), projected to become the second deadliest type of solid tumor by 2040. Our SPOTTED platform will use PDOs and PD-ECM hydrogels to reconstruct a realistic 3D model of PC, incorporating stromal and immune cells. By replicating the TME, SPOTTED enables precise drug screening and therapeutic testing in a highly controlled and automated environment. Its design allows for real-time monitoring and analysis, while the platform’s versatility supports scalable, reproducible experiments tailored to individual patients.
SPOTTED, with its customizable, patient-specific approach, aims to bridge the gap between laboratory research and clinical application, paving the way for more effective, tailored therapies for PC and other solid tumors, with the potential to revolutionize personalized cancer treatment.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
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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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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)
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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
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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
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Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2024-POC
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35122 Padova
Italy
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