CutCancer

Twinning for excellence to strategically advance research
in carcinogenesis and cancer.

Project objectives

To improve excellence capacity and resources

To advance knowledge and capacity for innovative solutions based on cutting-edge methodologies in the field of 3D cancer research at NIB

To plan and execute enhanced strategic networking activities

To foster creativity supported by the development of new approaches in R&I collaborations

To strengthen research management capacities and administrative skills

To increase mobility

In 2020, 2.7 million people in the European Union were diagnosed with cancer, and another 1.3 million people lost their lives to it, including over 2,000 young people.

The number of cancer cases in Europe is increasing each year, regardless of age, gender or social status, placing an enormous burden on health systems, patients, families and society in general.

As carcinogenesis is extremely heterogeneous, dynamic and complex system, holistic approaches that can analyse complex cellular and molecular interactions during cancer initiation and progression are crucial for the establishment of the basis for new prevention strategies and personalized anticancer treatments.

Recent advances in novel in vitro 3D test systems and utilizing novel state-of-the-art methodologies, enable the generation of more reliable and predictive in vitro data on cancer initation.

There is a failure in translating promising drug candidates and therapeutic approaches from the bench to the bedside that can also be attributed to the inadequate use of model systems in cancer research.

Applications towards designing in vitro, ex vivo and in vivo systems to reproduce cancer complexity and patient-specific tumours are increasingly investigated. Novel techniques in single-cell proteomics and spatial transcriptomics that enable visualization of cellular and molecular composition of tumours allow us to develop new personalized treatments for cancer patients.

Through twinning with excellent partners from UK (Swansea University; SWAN, Sweden (Stockholm University; SU) and the Netherlands (VU medical center Amsterdam; VUMC)

in the Cutcancer project, combined with ongoing substantial NIB infrastructural advances and significant research equipment upgrades, NIB will improve research knowledge and methodology in cancer research and foster field networking.