The Swedish Cancer and Allergy Fund (Cancer- och allergifonden) is awarding a total of SEK 3,3 million to 19 research projects in the field of cancer and allergy. Of these, eleven researchers at Karolinska Institutet will be awarded SEK 2 million. Several of these projects focus on cancers with poor prognoses, such as pancreatic cancer, where more research and knowledge are needed.
The research at Karolinska Institutet that is now receiving support is exclusively related to cancer and includes a wide range of projects from immunotherapy and new tumour markers to advanced cell biology and biomarkers for difficult-to-treat cancers.
Several of these research projects focus on cancers where the prognosis is particularly poor, such as pancreatic cancer, hepatobiliary cancer (which originates in the liver), mesothelioma (which originates in the lungs) and advanced bladder cancer.
There is a great need for new knowledge and new treatments, and Karolinska Institutet is one of the country's most important engines for research that leads to better diagnostics and treatment, writes the Swedish Cancer and Allergy Foundation in a press release.
The eleven KI projects to receive funding
Professor Adnane Achour , Department of Medicine , Solna
Project: Development of DARPin-based T-cell activators with high specificity for tumor-associated HLA/peptide complexes (Utveckling av DARPin-baserade T-cellsaktiverare med hög specificitet för tumörassocierade HLA/peptidkomplex)
Associate professor Anders Näsman , Department of Oncology-Pathology
Project: Prognostic markers in HPV-caused oropharyngeal carcinoma (OPC) (Prognostiska markörer i HPV-orsakade orofaryngeala carcinom (OPC))
Professor Anders Österborg , Department of Oncology-Pathology
Project: Precision treatment of lymphoid tumors - from new targets and drug development to translational clinical studies and real-world analyses (Precisionsbehandling vid lymfoida tumörer - från nya targets och drogutveckling till translationella kliniska studier och real-world-analyser)
Professor Anna Nilsson , Department of Women's and Children's Health
Project: Immune function and vaccine response in childhood cancer survivors (Immunfunktion och vaccinsvar hos barncanceröverlevare)
Associate professor Dhifaf Sarhan , Department of Laboratory Medicine
Project: Adaptive NK cells in solid tumors - mechanisms and therapeutic potential (Adaptiva NK-celler i solida tumörer - mekanismer och terapeutisk potential)
Associate professor Hans Grönlund , Department of Clinical Neuroscience
Project: T-cell vaccines against cancer with PNA beads (T-cellsvacciner mot cancer med PNA-pärlor)
Associate professor Helen Kaipe , Department of Laboratory Medicine
Project: Combined T-cell and CAF-targeted immunotherapy in pancreatic cancer (Kombinerad T-cells- och CAF-inriktad immunterapi vid pankreascancer)
Professor Katalin Dobra, Department of Oncology-Pathology
Project: Integration of treatment-predictive biomarkers and reprogramming of tumor stroma for individualized treatment of treatment-resistant mesothelioma, lung cancer and triple-negative breast cancer (Integrering av behandlingsprediktiva biomarkörer och omprogrammering av tumörstroma för individanpassad behandling av behandlingsresistent mesoteliom, lungcancer och trippelnegativ bröstcancer)
Professor Marianne van Hage , Department of Medicine , Solna
Project: Clinical implications of sensitization to the carbohydrate allergen α-Gal (Kliniska implikationer av sensibilisering mot kolhydratallergenet α-Gal)
Professor Mikael Björnstedt , Department of Laboratory Medicine
Project: Multimodal mapping of hepatopancreatobilic cancer and development of novel redox modulating therapies (Multimodal kartläggning av hepatopankreatobiliär cancer och utveckling av nya redoxmodulerande terapier)
Professor Susanne Gabrielsson , Department of Medicine , Solna
Project: Extracellular vesicles as biomarkers and therapeutic targets in bladder cancer (Extracellulära vesiklar som biomarkörer och terapeutiska mål vid urinblåsecancer)
