Project description
The vascular road to effective immunotherapy
Tumour growth and treatment delivery are highly dependent on vascularisation of the tumour itself. Tumour cells produce molecules that encourage angiogenesis, supporting their rapid growth and transition from benign tumours to malignant. These molecules also make the blood vessels leaky and porous. The latter helps tumour cells to enter the bloodstream and spread while concurrently compromising delivery of chemo- and immuno-therapies. EU-funded scientists are developing computational models of tumour microenvironments and repair of vascular abnormalities to better understand the effects of optimised vascular perfusion on promising immunotherapies. Predictions will be tested in experimental models.
Objective
Inefficient delivery of cellular and molecular medicines to solid tumors can reduce dramatically the efficacy of treatment and affect negatively patient’s survival. This explains in large part why standard chemo- and immune-therapies often fail to treat specific cancer types, even though these therapies are potent enough to eradicate cancer cells. Abnormalities in the structure of the tumor vasculature hinder tumor perfusion and as a result the systemic delivery of the medicines. In many tumor types, blood vessels are hyper-permeable, leaving large interendothelial openings, which causes fluid loss from the vascular to the interstitial tumor space. Vessel hyper-permeability can reduce tumor blood flow, rendering tumors hypo-perfused and hypoxic. Impaired blood supply and hypoxia help cancer cells evade the immune system and increase their invasive and metastatic potential. Normalization of the tumor vasculature is a clinical strategy to repair vascular abnormalities in order to improve perfusion, oxygenation and delivery of medicines. Immunotherapy is gaining interest as an effective therapeutic approach against cancer, but only a subset of patients receiving immunotherapy exhibit sustained tumor shrinkage. Here, we hypothesize that vascular normalization can improve immunotherapy. The objective of the proposed research is the optimal design of the combined immunotherapy and vascular normalization therapeutic approach. To this end, a numerical and experimental study is proposed to model and experimentally validate the vascular normalization procedure, focusing on its combined effects with immunotherapeutic drugs. The proposed research/training will complement the Applicant’s skills in high-performance computing, advanced optimization algorithms and artificial neural networks with the Host’s expertise in tumor microenvironment and cancer drug delivery to enhance his professional maturity and promote international collaborations.
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.
- medical and health sciences clinical medicine oncology
- medical and health sciences basic medicine immunology immunotherapy
- natural sciences computer and information sciences artificial intelligence computational intelligence
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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.4. - SPREADING EXCELLENCE AND WIDENING PARTICIPATION
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
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.
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.
MSCA-IF-EF-ST - Standard EF
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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) H2020-WF-2018-2020
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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.
1678 Nicosia
Cyprus
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.