Dr. Anna-Lisa Böttcher
Project management - Research
+49 6221 - 42 45 94
a.boettcher(at)kitz-heidelberg.de
Postal address:
German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ)
Div. Pediatric Neurooncology / B062
Im Neuenheimer Feld 580
D-69120 Heidelberg
ITCCP4: Development of preclinical models for testing of targeted active components
About 25 percent of pediatric cancer patients relapse despite intensive first-line therapy. If this happens, possibilities for further treatment are very limited. Then possibilities for further treatment are very limited. So far, the search for new therapeutic options for children, which were not cured by established treatment methods, has, been difficult. The molecular genetic data for tumor development and therapy resistance are limited, and there are no model organisms for the preclinical testing of novel molecularly targeted drugs for many cancers and subtypes.
The international ITCC-P4 (Innovative Therapies for Children with Cancer Pediatric Preclinical Proof-of-Concept Platform) project, which started in 2017 and is coordinated by DKFZ researchers at KiTZ Heidelberg and the pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly, now aims to change that. ITCC-P4 will be funded with more than 16 million Euro over five years as an Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI) in the form of a public-private partnership, half funded by the EU (Horizon 2020) and half by the participating companies.
The overall goal of the initiative is to accelerate the development of new drugs for children with cancer and to develop new biomarkers. The tumor models which are being developed as part of the ITCC P4 initiative in the participating academic research centers will later be made available for the construction of a comprehensive and sustainable platform in order to enable further drug tests in the future. It is expected that patient-specific tumor models will be better able to produce more significant clinical trial preparation results than is currently possible with the usual tests on cancer cells in the culture dish or on genetically uniform mouse strains.
The approach
ITCC-P4 encompasses all the key steps needed to establish a sustainable, comprehensive, preclinical pediatric testing platform based on genetic information from more than 360 patient samples. The illustration summarizes the approach of the project.
Further details
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Building a representative collection of approximately 400 patient in vitro and in vivo models as well as genetic mouse models of the most common pediatric solid high risk entities - with a significant share of recurrence models.
- Molecular characterization of the models as well as the associated primary tumor samples and germ line controls with state-of-the-art molecular diagnostic tools.
- Development of comprehensive preclinical data packages. These are necessary to use drugs in clinical trials for children with solid tumors.
- Prioritizing the development of pediatric medicines using the existing collection of molecular data for systematic targeting, followed by in vivo drug trials in disease models including pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics. Standard-of-care drugs are also being tested for all models in order to use them as a basis for the comparisons.
- Identification of suitable biomarkers for the future clinical stratification of patients across multiple entities.
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In the long-term, the establishment of the ITCC P4 platform will ultimately fill a long-standing gap by enabling in-depth molecular characterization of high-risk pediatric malignancies coupled with standardized preclinical testing, thereby accelerating the development of more accurate and efficient drugs for this population. Developing this platform as a public-private partnership will create a collaborative model that can hopefully be extended to other types of cancer entities and patient populations.
Many of the most renowned European research facilites contribute to the ITCC-P4 consortium:
- DKFZ / KiTZ, Institute for Cancer Research (London, United Kingdom), European consortium for Innovative Therapies for Children with Cancer, Institute Gustave Roussy, Alleanza Contro il Cancro (Rom, Italy), Zürich University, Medizinische Universität Wien (MUW), Fundació Sant Joan de Déu Barcelona, Academic Medical Center (AMC) (Amsterdam, Netherlands), Children`s Cancer Research Institute Vienna, Institut Curie, Charité Berlin, Princess Máxima Center Utrecht
- Established small and medium-sized companies: EPO-Berlin-Buch GmbH, XenTech (Evry, France)
- Members of the “European Biopharmaceutical Enterprises (EBE“): PharmaMar (Madrid, Spain)
- Members of the “European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations” (EFPIA): Lilly, Roche, Pfizer, Bayer, Charles River.
Prof. Dr. med. Stefan M. Pfister
Postal address:
German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ)
Div. Pediatric Neurooncology / B062
Ines Hofmann
Im Neuenheimer Feld 580
69120 Heidelberg
Tel: 06221 - 424617
E-Mail: s.pfister(at)kitz-heidelberg.de