Employees of the Department for Neurobiology have been rewarded the funding for a project "Functional diagnostics in non-small cell lung carcinoma – a new concept for the improvement of personalized therapy in Serbian patients" TargetedResponse. The duration of the project will be three years.

Abstract

TargetedResponse project will implement a novel person-centred approach based on functional diagnostics to determine the optimal treatment strategy for Serbian non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) patients. This approach combines the treatment response of patient-derived cancer cells with their genetic profile. The rationale for using this concept is due to the small portion of targeted therapy responders classified only according to their molecular alterations. Serbia has the second-highest incidence in Central and South-eastern Europe with 76.4 new cases of NSCLC per 100,000 inhabitants diagnosed each year. Comprehensive analyses of data for NSCLC molecular markers in the Serbian population have never been performed and many approved targeted therapeutics for NSCLC are not available and reimbursable in Serbia. To achieve its objectives, TargetedResponse will use the following methods: NSCLC patients’ sample and data collection; histopathological examination; DNA isolation and Whole Exome Sequencing (WES); establishment of patient-derived primary cell cultures; development of the immunoassay to distinguish cancer from non-cancer cells and to evaluate the expression of the multidrug resistance (MDR) markers; ex vivo testing of tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs); comparison of the ex vivo results with molecular alterations; interpretation of results and their translation from bench to patients. TargetedResponse expects to identify the most reliable molecular markers and targeted therapies for NSCLC patients in Serbia. Besides, TargetedResponse will determine whether the MDR phenotype can be induced with targeted therapy and thus make valuable recommendations for the oncologists. TargetedResponse results should serve as a guidance tool for the personalized therapy of NSCLC patients particularly influencing healthcare in Serbia. However, the applicative potential of TargetedResponse results will have a more general impact on the scientific community.

Website

Project leader:

Dr. Milica Pešić

Team members:

Dr. Miodrag Dragoj
Dr. Jelena Dinić
Dr. Ana Podolski-Renić
Dr. Sofija Jovanović Stojanov
Dr. Mirna Jovanović
Ana Stepanović
Ema Lupšić
Milica Pajović

Team members from School of Medicine, University of Belgrade:

Dr. Maja Ercegovac, Associate Professor of Surgery, at the University of Belgrade - Faculty of Medicine and Director of the Thoracic Surgery Clinic at Clinical Center of Serbia
Dr. Dragana Marić, Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine, at the University of Belgrade - Faculty of Medicine and permanent Member of the Oncology Council at the Pulmonology Clinic of the Clinical Center of Serbia
Dr. Sofija Glumac, Associate Professor at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade and director of the Institute of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade