DDRNA-based cancer therapy targeted telomeres

Informations projet

DDRNA

N° de convention de subvention: 664713

DOI

10.3030/664713

Projet clôturé

Date de signature de la CE 18 Mai 2015

Date de début 1 Juin 2015

Date de fin 30 Novembre 2016

Financé au titre de

• EXCELLENT SCIENCE - European Research Council (ERC)

Coût total

€ 149 425,00

Contribution de l’UE

€ 149 425,00

Coordonné par

IFOM-ISTITUTO FONDAZIONE DI ONCOLOGIA MOLECOLARE ETS
Italy

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - DDRNA (DDRNA-based cancer therapy targeted telomeres)

Période du rapport: 2015-06-01 au 2016-11-30

Résumé du contexte et des objectifs généraux du projet

There is a clear unmet medical need for a subset of cancer patient population, 10-20% of all tumors, which rely on an alternative lengthening of telomeres (ALT) mechanisms to allow their growth. ALT positive tumors are generally more aggressive and resistant to radiotherapy and chemotherapy.
Thanks to the support of the ERC, we could extend the study of the impact of our anticancer approach to different human cancer cell lines. By doing so, we could confirm its efficacy and, most importantly, characterize better its specificity.
We also performed several experiments to establish a tentative mechanism of action, investigating the impact of our treatment at both the molecular and cellular level. Finally we tested its efficacy in in vivo cancer models, providing a strong preclinical evidence for a potential therapeutic application.
Importantly we have conducted the experimental activities always in tight conjunction with the exploitation of the results for maximizing the testing and commercial efforts.
The conclusions of these studies make us confident on the potential of our approach.