Descrizione del progetto
Tecnologie basate sull’RNA per il rilevamento dei tumori
Per consentire di gestire il cancro in modo efficiente è necessario effettuare una diagnosi precoce, la classificazione della prognosi e un monitoraggio efficiente della progressione della malattia in seguito al trattamento. A tal fine sono richiesti biomarcatori specifici legati al cancro che possano essere rilevati in maniera non invasiva e continuativa. Il progetto RNADIAGON, finanziato dall’UE, concentra l’attenzione su piccole molecole di RNA non codificante (ncRNA) quali biomarcatori alternativi per i tumori. Il principale vantaggio offerto da queste molecole di RNA è che circolano liberamente nei fluidi corporei, come il plasma sanguigno, o vengono contenuti in microvescicole secrete dalle cellule, il che le rende ideali per uno screening non invasivo. L’individuazione di tecnologie basate sull’ncRNA specifiche per il cancro dovrebbe favorire un rilevamento dei tumori rapido e preciso migliorando al contempo l’aderenza al trattamento del paziente, che rappresenta un problema nel caso di procedure invasive.
Obiettivo
Cancer occurs in more than 2 million individuals every year in Europe alone. It is widely recognized that early diagnosis and monitoring of the disease - during therapy and post-treatment follow-up- is a key step for successful patient management: it helps to offer on-time curative intervention and selecting the most appropriate therapy, improves the quality of life, while contributing to reduce the economic and social burden for both patients and society. There are screening programs available for early detection of some cancers such as colorectal cancer (CRC). Unfortunately, current CRC screening tests suffer with unsatisfactory sensitivity and specificity and low compliance of targeted population. On the other hand, there are cancers with poorly performing biomarkers as in the case of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), or no biomarkers at all (e.g. renal cell carcinoma (RCC), which limits not only the screening options but also the diagnosis or monitoring of the disease. Therefore, there is a need for new diagnostic biomarkers and accurate technologies to enable precise detection of asymptomatic tumors in a short time, low costs and, if possible, with minimal invasiveness and risks for the patients. From this perspective, cancer specific small non-coding RNAs (small ncRNAs) circulating in body fluids such as blood serum or plasma present promising diagnostic approach. Project RNADIAGON aims at development of personal skills and knowledge of early-stage and experienced researchers working in the field of small non-coding RNA diagnostics from five European research institutions through their long-term stays at one of the world-leading ncRNAs research centers in United States and traineeships at the education center and manufacturing facilities of industrial partner developing small ncRNAs-based certified diagnostics. This research and innovation staff exchange will increase the scientific excellence and quality of related research in the EU research institutions.
Campo scientifico
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Meccanismo di finanziamento
MSCA-RISE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Research and Innovation Staff Exchange (RISE)Coordinatore
601 77 Brno
Cechia