i3S project is one of the winners of the National Cancer Hub Competition
The “HD CHIP” project, led by Daniel Ferreira, was one of the winners in the inaugural NCH-PT 2024 Competition. Organised by the National Cancer Hub-PT (NCH-PT), which is coordinated by the Agency for Clinical Research and Biomedical Innovation (AICIB) and the Directorate-General for Health (DGS) through the National Programme for Oncological Diseases (PNDO), this competition awarded a total of 103 thousand euros to four clinical research and biomedical innovation projects in the field of cancer. i3S will receive 36 thousand euros of this funding.
Focusing on Hereditary Diffuse Gastric Cancer (HDGC), which affects around 50 thousand people each year, Daniel Ferreira’s project aims to enhance early diagnosis and reduce treatment-related morbidity, while advancing a more personalised approach.
HDGC, caused by the loss of function of the CDH1 gene, is a severe cancer syndrome that predisposes individuals to a highly aggressive form of diffuse gastric cancer and/or lobular breast cancer. The only effective treatment currently available is preventive surgery to remove the stomach and breasts before the disease manifests clinically. Although these prophylactic surgeries prevent the onset of the disease, they complicate the study of its initiation.
To address the challenge of lacking target organs in patients for studying disease biomarkers, Daniel Ferreira, a member of the “Expression Regulation in Cancer” group led by Carla Oliveira, in collaboration with the Centro Hospitalar Universitário São João in Porto and the Center for Regenerative Medicine in Boston, will develop a “model that mimics HDGC by combining organ-on-a-chip technology with induced pluripotent stem cells derived from HDGC patients.”
This in vitro platform, Daniel Ferreira explains, “will act as an avatar of HDGC” with the aim of “identifying a molecular signature of diffuse gastric cancer initiation that will enable us to distinguish between those with asymptomatic invasive lesions, those with premalignant lesions, and those with no lesions at all.” The biomarkers of disease initiation, he adds, “have the potential to indicate the need and urgency for risk-reducing surgery and could be used in the future to develop a medical device for more efficient management of HDGC patients.”
Helicobacter pylori screening and eradication pilot project
In addition to the i3S project, three other projects have received funding. These include the “POHp - Helicobacter pylori Opportunistic Screening Program”, coordinated by the Azores Oncology Centre (COA), with Ipatimup as a partner. Helicobacter pylori (Hp) infection is responsible for about 90% of gastric cancers, and its prevalence in Portugal is the highest among Western European countries, estimated at between 65 and 80 per cent in the adult population.
Eradicating Hp infection can lower the risk of gastric cancer, but a screening and eradication strategy for this bacterium has not been tested in Portugal. Therefore, this project aims to pilot a prevention programme on Terceira Island (Azores), with the support of the island’s community pharmacies. The goal is to screen two thousand individuals and treat positive cases.
This initiative will provide scientific evidence to inform health policy decisions on cancer prevention at a national level, aligning with the National Cancer Strategy and the European Cancer Control Plan.
The other two funded projects are: “Development of New Preclinical Models of Paediatric Brain Cancer – An Effective and Robust Strategy to Accelerate Drug Development” by IMM, and “Liquid Biopsy in the Diagnosis of High-Grade Gliomas” by the Academic Centre for Biomedical Research and Training of the Algarve (ADABC).
About the NCH-PT 2024 Competition
This competition was established as part of the collaboration between AICIB and DGS, aimed at coordinating, promoting, and supporting the implementation of European initiatives related to oncological diseases in Portugal. It involves defining action and funding strategies in line with the PNDO and the National Strategy for the Fight Against Cancer, Horizon 2030.
Out of 22 applications received, four projects were selected, representing a success rate of 20% and amounting to a total funding of €103,626.76.