Project description
Precision medicine tools for enhanced oral health in cancer patients
Cancer treatments often cause oral mucositis, a painful condition characterised by inflamed mouth ulcers that currently lacks effective cures. Affecting up to 90 % of radiotherapy patients, it severely compromises daily life and increases infection risks. Supported by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the ADHESYS project will address this by developing a nature-based, mucoadhesive film for targeted, long-lasting therapeutic action. This tool will use bioactive polyphenols extracted from sustainable chokeberry waste, which will be encapsulated and 3D-printed to ensure efficacy. Unlike conventional treatments, this patient-tailored approach is expected to deliver synergistic antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects directly to affected areas. By promoting faster healing, ADHESYS aims to reduce healthcare costs and significantly enhance the quality of life for millions of cancer patients worldwide.
Objective
Oral mucositis (OM) is one of the most frequent and debilitating side effects of cancer therapy, characterised by persistent inflammation, painful intraoral lesions and ulcers, impaired nutrition, and increased infection risk. It affects about 50% of patients receiving chemotherapy and up to 90% of those undergoing radiotherapy, significantly compromising their daily lives and contributing to substantial healthcare costs, often exceeding several thousand euros per patient. Despite its prevalence, no effective treatments currently exist. Conventional drug delivery systems are not able to treat cancer therapy-induced OM since they are not multi-targeted and their retention time in the oral cavity is too short.
Supported by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, ADHESYS redefines an innovative therapeutic option for supportive cancer care. The project aims to produce and characterize a nature-based mucoadhesive film that provides targeted and long-lasting pro-healing effects, thus moving beyond mere symptomatic relief. The film will incorporate nanoencapsulated bioactive polyphenols extracted from Aronia melanocarpa pomace, a sustainable food by-product of the juice industry. Engineered using only natural and biocompatible materials, the film will be fabricated via semisolid extrusion 3D-printing, offering superior reproducibility, commercial scalability, and a patient-tailored design compared to conventional film manufacturing methods. By co-delivering multiple bioactive polyphenols with synergistic antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and wound healing effects directly to the affected area, this unique precision-medicine tool will promote OM healing, thus enhancing the oral health and quality of life of millions of cancer patients worldwide.
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.
This project's classification has been human-validated.
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.
This project's classification has been human-validated.
- medical and health sciences basic medicine pharmacology and pharmacy drug discovery
- medical and health sciences medical biotechnology nanomedicine
- medical and health sciences clinical medicine oncology
- medical and health sciences health sciences personalized medicine
- engineering and technology industrial biotechnology biomaterials
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)
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.
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-2025-PF
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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.
0313 Oslo
Norway
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.