Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men in the European Union. Despite the progress made over the last decade in its clinical management and the significant increase in the 5-year survival rate, this cancer is responsible for more than 375,000 deaths a year worldwide.
Among the biochemical pathways that can be involved in cancer, several studies have shown that lipid metabolism is radically altered in several types of tumour, and particularly in prostate cancer. Interfering with this process is therefore an interesting and promising therapeutic strategy.
Against this backdrop, Professor Catherine Michaux, an FNRS-qualified researcher and member of the NARILIS research institute, has been awarded 4 years' funding to work on the PROSTAMET project, a Horizon Europe MSCA-Doctoral Network project on prostate cancer, funded by the European Union.
PROSTAMET | A European network for doctoral training
Coordinated by KU Leuven, this European network aims to train the next generation of researchers in multifactorial diseases, including cancer, which are generally characterised by clear inter- and intra-patient heterogeneity and are increasingly facing our ageing society.
The special feature of this project is that it funds both research and the training of 9 doctoral students within the network.
The PROSTAMET project brings together the multidisciplinary expertise of 16 partners to identify the central role of lipids in the aetiology of prostate cancer, and to design and develop new anti-cancer drugs using different approaches.
In this context, Catherine Michaux's team will be working to identify compounds that selectively block the oligomerisation state of aldehyde dehydrogenase 1A3, which is overexpressed in prostate cancer (WP3). This enzyme is involved in resistance to ferroptosis, a type of cell death linked to lipid peroxidation, and is therefore associated with the development and progression of cancer.
The project starts on 1 January 2024.
This project is funded by the European Union: GA n° 101120283 - PROSTAMET - HORIZON-MSCA-2022-DN-01
The partners involved
Catherine Michaux's research team will be working in particular with the Italian partners in the network: the Universita del Piemonto oriental and the company IRBM.
