Targeting the tumour environment to personalise colorectal cancer treatment

Alexandre Calon

Fundació Institut Hospital del Mar d'Investigacions Mèdiques (IMIM), Barcelona, Spain

Colorectal cancer remains one of the most common and deadly cancers worldwide. While chemotherapy is the standard treatment, many patients do not respond well, and doctors often struggle to predict who will benefit. This project aims to change that by focusing not just on the cancer cells, but on the surrounding environment inside the tumour, an area that has been largely overlooked in clinical decisions.

Researchers are studying the non-cancerous cells that support the tumour, especially a group called fibroblasts, which can either help or hinder treatment. These cells are highly diverse and can change in response to therapy, sometimes making the cancer more aggressive. The team has already found that some of these cells hold onto chemotherapy drugs for years, possibly reducing the treatment’s effectiveness.

To better understand these complex interactions, they will create a detailed map of tumours before and after treatment. This map will combine advanced imaging and genetic analysis to show how different cells behave and respond. Using lab-grown mini-tumours made from patient samples, the team will test how these support cells influence treatment outcomes and explore new ways to make chemotherapy more targeted and less harmful. Their goal is to develop tools that help doctors choose the right treatment for each patient and to design new therapies that are more precise and less toxic.

• Jorge Pisonero, Universidad de Oviedo, Spain

• Holger Heyn, Consorcio para la explotación del Centro Nacional de Análisis Genómico (CNAG), Barcelona, Spain

• Daniele Lo Re, Universidad de Granada, Spain

Advancing Precision Oncology through the Tumor Microenvironment Analysis

€996.750,00