| Project Detail |
Eradicating minimal residual disease in leukaemia Residual therapy-resistant cancer cells, called minimal residual disease (MRD) pose a major challenge in leukaemia treatment. MRD is responsible for relapse, which is difficult to treat and the cause of the low survival rates of patients. Currently, MRD detection is crucial for predicting the risk of a relapse. However, mechanisms of MRD development are currently unknown, making it difficult to design treatment strategies to prevent relapse. With the support of the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions programme, the MIRACLE project will train a new generation of researchers to understand MRD persistence mechanisms and develop effective, less toxic treatments. The project will combine cutting-edge technologies and advanced data analysis to equip researchers with the skills for creating new therapeutics and improving leukaemia treatment outcomes. An estimated 300,000 new cases of leukemia are diagnosed each year globally. The most common form of acute leukemia is acute myeloid leukemia (AML), which is generally a disease of the elderly, while acute lymphoid leukemia (ALL) is most prevalent in children. The biggest problem associated with leukemia treatment is persistence of residual therapy-resistant cancer cells, called minimal residual disease (MRD). MRD can latently persist in the patient for many months, and in response to unknown signals can reawaken and initiate a relapse, which is difficult to treat and responsible for the low survival rates of patients. Currently, knowledge on mechanisms responsible for persistence of MRD and initiation of leukemia relapse is lacking, making development of therapeutics eradicating MRD difficult and hampering improvement of patient cure rates. MIRACLE aims at eradication of MRD and development of clinically efficient treatment strategies that can deliver long-lasting benefit to patients by training a new generation of researchers. MIRACLE will elucidate the leukemia MRD landscape by integrating the knowledge on mechanisms driving persistence of MRD from different angles, and by the subsequent design of efficient and less toxic, novel targeted combination therapy with increased capacity to induce deep responses in patients. With its multidisciplinary team of scientists from academia and industry MIRACLE aims to educate a new generation of researchers optimally equipped to advance and accelerate development of novel therapeutics directed to MRD, and to progress effective treatments to the clinic. The researchers within MIRACLE will be trained to obtain a unique combination of skills in innovative high-tech technologies, advanced data analysis tools and artificial intelligence, organ-on-chip MRD models, and drug and immunotherapy testing, and will come with innovative ideas to advance future leukemia treatment by integration of several disciplines and data sources. |
