Project description
Boosting cancer treatment with gut microbiome insights
Cancer remains a major health challenge in the EU. Without urgent action, cases are projected to rise by 24 % by 2035. Immunotherapy, particularly immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs), offers a promising approach by harnessing the body’s immune system to target cancer cells. However, response to ICIs varies significantly among patients. Supported by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the iINGUT project is tackling this issue by developing a platform that integrates the gut microbiome’s influence on tumour response. Using a microfluidic system, iINGUT replicates human intestinal and tumour environments. This approach aims to improve treatment predictions and advance tailored immunotherapies, offering new hope for cancer patients.
Objective
In 2020, cancer affected 2.7 million people in the European Union and claimed 1.3 million lives, including more than 2,000 young adults. If immediate action is not taken, cancer cases are expected to increase by 24% by 2035. This project aims to accelerate the development of new cancer therapies. Immunotherapy, particularly through immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs), stands out as a highly promising treatment, utilizing the body's own immune system to target and destroy cancer cells with greater precision and fewer side effects than other approaches. Yet, the effectiveness of ICIs varies significantly between patients and tumor types. In this regard, the hosting laboratory has been on the frontline in studies that revealed the influence of the individual gut microbiome on the heterogeneity in ICIs response, opening new avenues for improving treatment outcomes.
iINGUT (immunotherapy on an INtegrated GUt microbiome and Tumor on-chip) is a novel platform designed to study the modulatory role of the gut microbiome on the response of solid tumors to therapy, and in particular to ICI. iINGUT consists on a mechanically active microfluidic system integrating the complexity of multicellular structures and functions of the human intestine with a module dedicated to patient-derived tumor models.
The entire platform can be personalized with fecal, blood, and tumor samples from the patient, providing a time- and cost-effective tool for predicting treatment outcome and developing novel immunotherapy-based strategies tailored for specific groups of patients.
iINGUT will enable me to apply my engineering background to complex biological questions, facilitating my growth as a researcher and advancing my interdisciplinary expertise.
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 biological sciences microbiology
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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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HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
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.
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
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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) HORIZON-MSCA-2024-PF-01
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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.
20121 Milano
Italy
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.