Skip to main content
Go to the home page of the European Commission (opens in new window)
English English
CORDIS - EU research results
CORDIS

Colloidal Inorganic Nanostructures for Radiotherapy and Chemotherapy

Objective

Radio and chemotherapy are the major clinical treatments for cancer. However these treatments lack cell specificity and can have severe side effects against healthy cells, especially when used in combination. My goal is to develop a nanocrystal (NC) platform to merge radio and chemotherapy into a single entity that is more specific towards tumor cells. To achieve ICARO’s goal, three main objectives will be pursued. The first objective is to introduce post-synthesis reactions, namely cation exchange (CE) and intercalation (INT) reactions, as new protocols to replace or intercalate cations that are useful as radionuclides within the crystal lattice of water-soluble NCs. Our goal is to establish protocols for the preparation of radiolabelled-NCs that will be easily translated to the medical practice for radiotherapy. This requires CE/INT reactions that occur in aqueous media, possibly with NCs prefunctionalized with specific recognition molecules to achieve targeted radiotherapy. To minimize the radio exposure of the operator, CE/INT protocols will be carried out as the last step of NC preparation. The second objective of ICARO will be to explore in situ CE/INT reactions with NCs entrapped in a matrix that simulates the tumor mass. By first located NCs at the tumor and then let the CE/INT to occur, enhance therapeutic effect is expected. The third objective of ICARO will be to develop heterostructures to combine radio and chemotherapy. They will include at least one semiconductor NC on which to perform radiolabelling protocols and one portion made of a superparamagnetic (SP) NC for magnetically triggered drug release. With respect to magnetic hyperthermia, which exploits SP-NCs to produce bulk heat (>46°C) at the tumor, the local heat effect generated at the surface of SP-NCs will enable drug release using a lower dose of magnetic material. Finally, new types of heterostructures combining radio and chemotherapy will be tested, for the first time, in preclinical trials.

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: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-vocabularies/euroscivoc.

You need to log in or register to use this function

Programme(s)

Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.

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.

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.

ERC-STG - Starting Grant

See all projects funded under this funding scheme

Call for proposal

Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.

(opens in new window) ERC-2015-STG

See all projects funded under this call

Host institution

FONDAZIONE ISTITUTO ITALIANO DI TECNOLOGIA
Net EU contribution

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.

€ 1 047 500,00
Address
VIA MOREGO 30
16163 GENOVA
Italy

See on map

Region
Nord-Ovest Liguria Genova
Activity type
Research Organisations
Links
Total cost

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.

€ 1 160 000,00

Beneficiaries (2)

My booklet 0 0