Cancer is a major burden of disease worldwide. Each year, tens of millions of people are diagnosed with cancer around the world, and more than half of the patients eventually die from it. In many countries, cancer ranks the second most common cause of death following cardiovascular diseases. With significant improvement in treatment and prevention of cardiovascular diseases, cancer has or will soon become the number one killer in many parts of the world.
Application of immunotherapy in cancer treatment is promising innovative noninvasive and non-toxic approach to fight this drastic human disease. Immunotherapy is based on the DNA vaccine platform as the most promising due to ease and speed of vaccine preparation. There is a huge social, political and scientific demand for the development of this area.
During the last 10 years Rīga Stradiņš University (RSU) invested considerable resources into cancer research and at the onstart of the project had a big potential for the expansion of such studies. However, the focus of research did not involve the approaches for immune prevention and immune therapy of cancer and/or chronic infections (bacterial or viral) associated with the development of cancer, despite them being highly prioritized by the medical and research society. These formulated the focus on the immunotherapy of cancer and strengthening research in the field of biomedicine, medical technologies, biopharmacy and biotechnologies with the goal to simulate and train every step in the development of anti-cancer immunotherapeuticals and thus prepare scientists to active and productive research in this field.
THE LONG TERM OBJECTIVES OF VACTRAIN PROJECT
1) significantly strengthen the research in Riga Stradins University (RSU; Latvia) in the smart specialization area of Latvia “bio-medicine, medical technologies, and biotechnologies” with application to immunotherapy of cancer through building an up-rising connections with two internationally leading research institutions, Institute of Microbiology, Tumor and Cell Biology, Karolinska Institutet (MTC/KI, Sweden) and the Department of General Biophysics, University of Lodz (DGB/LU, Poland).
2) to synergistically involve in this up-raise another partner, R. E. Kavetsky Institute of Experimental Pathology, Oncology and Radiobiology of the National Academy of Science of Ukraine (KIEPOR), country newly associated to EU, in great need of positive changes and appealing for integration into the common space of the European research. RSU and KIEPOR cooperation should produce mutually beneficial learning effects and future collaboration basis.
