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Fluorescence and Reactive oxygen Intermediates by Neutron Generated electronic Excitation as a foundation for radically new cancer therapies

Descrizione del progetto

DEENESFRITPL

Una terapia radicale basata sui neutroni per i tumori difficili da raggiungere

Quando si parla di cancro, si pensa spesso alla chemioterapia, ma la radioterapia è un’arma potente da oltre un secolo, grazie all’impiego di alte dosi di radiazioni ionizzanti per uccidere le cellule tumorali o rallentarne la crescita danneggiandone il DNA. Le terapie basate sui neutroni, che funzionano principalmente attraverso le interazioni nucleari, sono utilizzate per trattare i tumori radioresistenti, ma non sono specifiche per tipologia di cancro e ciò può indurre danni ai tessuti sani e provocare nuove cancerogenesi. Le terapie fotomediche usano la luce per innescare reazioni letali tra composti sensibili alla luce e ossigeno, colpendo le cellule cancerose, ma non hanno una profondità di penetrazione sufficiente per raggiungere i tumori profondi. Il progetto FRINGE, finanziato dall’UE, sta elaborando un nuovo approccio terapeutico che combina il meglio delle due terapie.

Obiettivo

Deep lying tumours like aggressive brain cancer remain very difficult to treat and existing therapies offer only marginal increase in survival rates. In the case of photomedical therapies they are very effective, but mainly limited by their insufficient depth of light penetration into tissue. Current neutron-based therapies have sufficient penetration depth but suffer from lack of cancer specificity. In FRINGE we propose a genuinely new hybrid-technology. At its heart are chemical agents (photosensitisers - PS) which preferentially accumulate in the tumours especially in brain cancers where the blood brain barrier is compromised. The PSs designed for FRINGE will contain metal centres like Gadolinium (Gd), to enable interaction with incoming neutrons and facilitate the transfer of neutron energy into electron excitation of the PS, confirmed by concomitant fluorescence emission. Interaction with ambient oxygen will generate reactive oxygen species which will kill the tumour cells. The main scientific breakthrough of this project will be to establish experimental proof-of-principle of this novel neutron-activated therapy. FRINGE will combine the advantages of photomedical therapies (no mutagenic radiation) with the advantages of neutron-based therapies (large penetration depth). The externally-applied neutron beam can be energy-tuned to become therapeutic exactly at the depth of the tumour. Exploiting Gd as a contrast agent, FRINGE can also become a theranostic modality by use of magnetic resonance imaging. FRINGE has the potential of causing immunogenic cell death to cancers which could eliminate occult metastasis and act as a ‘cancer vaccine’. The highly interdisciplinary project team comprises world renowned experts from a unique combination of disciplines: Nuclear physicists, synthetic chemists, photochemists, photobiologists, medical physicists, quantum chemists and radio-oncologists will join forces to lay the foundations for a novel, curative cancer therapy.

Campo scientifico

Parole chiave

Programma(i)

Argomento(i)

Invito a presentare proposte

H2020-FETOPEN-2018-2020

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Bando secondario

H2020-FETOPEN-2018-2019-2020-01

Meccanismo di finanziamento

RIA - Research and Innovation action

Coordinatore

OSLO UNIVERSITETSSYKEHUS HF
Contribution nette de l'UE
€ 1 145 618,75
Indirizzo
KIRKEVEIEN 166 TARNBYGGET
0450 Oslo
Norvegia

Mostra sulla mappa
Regione
Norge Oslo og Viken Oslo
Tipo di attività
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
Collegamenti
Costo totale
€ 1 145 618,75

Partecipanti (7)

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Ultimo aggiornamento: 17 Luglio 2023

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Permalink: https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/828922/it

European Union, 2024