Pediatric tumor project wins the Rui Osório de Castro Award
Researcher Jorge Lima, from the i3S research group Cancer Signaling & Metabolism, was recently awarded the Rui Osório de Castro/Millennium BCP Award for a project that aims to find new therapies for pediatric tumors of the central nervous system. One of the two honorable mentions from the same event was given to researcher Bruno Sarmento (also from i3S) who aims to improve the treatment of medulloblastoma in pediatric patients.
The project “EX-BRAIN - 3D ex-vivo organoids for precision medicine in pediatric tumors of the central nervous system” won 15 thousand euros worth of funding and will be developed by a multidisciplinary team that includes researchers from i3S and Ipatimup as well as as specialist doctors at Centro Hospitalar Universitário de São João. The main objective, explains researcher Jorge Lima, “is to produce ex-vivo organoids, from surgical material from Pediatric Central Nervous System Tumors (PCNST), these will work as a model to test targeted therapy drugs and so help in making clinical decisions”.
In this process, continues the project coordinator, “we will also determine the detailed molecular profile of these tumors, which will provide us with crucial information about the most relevant targeted therapy drugs to then be tested on organoids”.
This project, predicts the researcher Jorge Lima, “will produce results – in molecular biology and drug sensitivity – that may allow finding new therapeutic approaches, individualized for each child with PCNST, contributing significantly to the improvement of their survival and quality of life”. Finding individualized therapies to combat these types of tumors, he stresses, “is particularly relevant in pediatric oncology, as current radio and chemotherapy treatments have significant adverse effects and a negative impact on the quality of life of survivors”.
The team also aims to “create a biobank of PCNST organoids which can be used for future investigations of a fundamental and translational nature in the search for potential targets and new therapies”. At an institutional level, underlines Jorge Lima, “EX-BRAIN will strengthen the relationships between different entities operating in the field of pediatric oncology and bring Portugal closer to the best European practices in pediatric oncology”.
Treating medulloblastoma in pediatric patients with nanoparticles
The jury of the Rui Osório de Castro Award decided to award one of the honorable mentions to the project “Development of innovative nanosystems for the treatment of pediatric medulloblastoma aimed at the metabolism of the tumor microenvironment”, led by i3S researcher Bruno Sarmento. The project aims to “establish a targeted therapy to specifically transport drugs that interfere with glutamine metabolism to the medulloblastoma microenvironment”. This is a pressing clinical need, as there are few treatment solutions.
“We intend to develop a system based on surface-functionalized nanoparticles, capable of inducing passage through the blood-brain barrier and protecting drugs from being metabolized early in the bloodstream. This guarantees that the drugs reach their intended destination without loss of effectiveness along the way”, explains Bruno Sarmento. With this project, the researcher continues, we hope to “contribute substantially to the development of new treatment protocols and systems based on nanoparticles and improve the treatment of medulloblastoma in pediatric patients”.
The second honorable mention was given to the project “Discovering brain plasticity during the development of pediatric cancer (valance)” led by Adriana Danes from the Champalimaud Center for the Unknown.
The award ceremony, which aims to support the development of innovative projects and initiatives in the field of Pediatric Oncology, will take place online at the 8th Seminar on Pediatric Oncology, organized by the Rui Osório de Castro Foundation, on the 12 February.