Tumor Regulation Assisted by Immunity and Nanotechnology

Cancer is the number one cause of death among Europeans under 65, being estimated that half of Europeans will develop cancer at some time in their lives.

Despite the significant progress made in the prevention and treatment of cancer in recent years, this disease continues to claim lives and straining the European health and social systems and economies. In addition, cancer incidence and mortality are predicted to raise as consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic.

To reduce these dramatic repercussions, innovative therapies, more effective and accessible to a wider population, are needed to treat patients with advanced cancer.The overarching aim of the TRAIN project is to leverage the enzyme activities in the tumor microenvironment to boost the efficacy of cancer immunotherapies via molecularly engineered peptide nanomaterials capable of metabolic modulation of tumors and release of chemotherapeutic drugs.

TRAIN is focused on pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PAAD) and will develop biomimetic 3D PAAD models to test the proposed combined chemo- and immuno-therapy.

The feasibility of this major goal will be achieved through a multidisciplinary approach that will employ concepts from peptide nanotechnology, enzymology, immunology and cancer biology, together with cutting-edge materials science, proteomics and cell biology methods.TRAIN is in line with “The Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan”, aimed at reducing the negative impact of cancer for patients, their families and healthcare systems, and addressing cancer-associated disparities across countries, while providing training and career development opportunities for a young and creative researcher at the intersection of peptide nanotechnology and cancer immunology.