Project description
Multifaceted oncolytic virus-based approach for cancer immunotherapy
Although immunotherapy has recently emerged as a promising approach to treat cancer, clinical responses, especially in solid tumours, have been disappointing. Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is particularly challenging due to the inherently immune-suppressive microenvironment of the liver. To address this, the EU-funded ONCO-VAX project will use oncolytic viruses (OVs) to directly lyse tumour cells, as an integral part of a multi-faceted dendritic cell vaccine approach to stimulate immune responses against HCC. To overcome potential innate antiviral immune responses, scientists will characterize changes in the tumor microenvironment in response to OV therapy, and use this information to engineer new vectors to express genes that restrict immune suppression. Additional features are expected to elicit a broad and life-long immunity against the tumour.
Objective
Despite many decades of intensive research, cancer remains a major worldwide health concern and imposes a heavy societal burden, both epidemiologically and financially. Cancer immunotherapy is rapidly transforming the face of medical oncology as an exciting paradigm shift in treating cancer by exploiting the immune system of the patient as the basis for the therapy. Although dramatic results have been achieved in a subset of patients, the responses in most solid tumors have been disappointing. Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) represents a particularly challenging malignancy to treat, due to the inherently immune-suppressive microenvironment in the liver. Oncolytic viruses (OVs) offer an elegant multimodal approach to combat HCC through their ability to cause direct tumor cell lysis, while stimulating immune responses directed against the tumor. Nevertheless, the potential of OVs as monotherapeutics is limited by the innate antiviral immune response, which rapidly restricts virus replication and spread within the tumor mass. Therefore, a successful therapeutic strategy should employ a combination scheme involving a mechanism to improve the intratumoral dissemination of the OV, while exploiting the immune-stimulatory capacity of the virus, in order to achieve far-reaching synergistic responses that can target metastatic disease. The ONCO-VAX approach aims to accomplish just that. A novel chimeric oncolytic virus backbone with an enhanced cell-cell spreading capacity, will be utilized as a platform to express an optimized gene for eradicating the local immune-suppressive microenvironment in the tumor. As an additional layer of therapy, the virus will be combined with a cutting edge dendritic cell vaccine approach to initiate a broad antitumor response for systemic and potentially life-long immunity against the cancer. This multifaceted approach represents an innovative and crucial step forward in the rapidly evolving field of cancer immuno-oncology.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
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.
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.
- natural sciences biological sciences microbiology virology
- medical and health sciences basic medicine pharmacology and pharmacy pharmaceutical drugs vaccines
- medical and health sciences clinical medicine oncology
- medical and health sciences basic medicine immunology immunotherapy
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
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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H2020-EU.1.1. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - European Research Council (ERC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
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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
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.
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.
ERC-STG - Starting Grant
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2019-STG
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
81675 MUENCHEN
Germany
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.