Support from The Norwegian Cancer Society to three of CCBIO's projects
The Norwegian Cancer Society has recently allocated their 2024 grants to current cancer research projects. Eight researchers from Bergen made the final cut, including three from CCBIO.
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In total, the Norwegian Cancer Society received 141 submissions that were assessed by independent international experts. 27 top researchers made the cut and will be granted up to NOK 8 million each. Breast cancer, colon cancer and rectal cancer are the dominant cancer types, with various forms of immunotherapy and precision medicine dominating both submitted and granted projects. For the first time, Oslo is not receiving the most project support.
Carina Strell
Carina Strell is one of CCBIO's researchers who has been favored in this year's allocation, with NOK 8 million.
Two years ago, she received NOK 2 million from the Norwegian Cancer Society's grant for pioneering projects. Her aim at the time was to develop a tool to map how cancer cells respond to immunotherapy.
“This grant gives us the opportunity to test the tool, and hopefully be able to identify who will benefit from immunotherapy and who will not. I'm very happy and grateful," Strell says to the Norwegian Cancer Society.
Strell’s group is investigating activation of PD1-PDL1 (immune checkpoint proteins) in diagnostic tissue samples. This is important to assess the efficacy of immunotherapy, especially with use of immune checkpoint inhibitors, which are the most common drugs in cancer treatment.
Bjørn Tore Gjertsen
Granted NOK 8 million from the Norwegian Cancer Society, Bjørn Tore Gjertsen and his group will continue their work on development of new methods to adapt treatment for acute myeloid leukemia (AML). The research grant will be used to analyze blood samples from patients with AML. The goal is to be able to predict how they will respond to treatment.
"We take a blood sample before we start treatment, and then after eight days and after a couple of months, in the chronic phase of the disease," Gjertsen explains in an interview with HealthTalk. Test of these samples should be able to show already after the first day whether the patients respond to treatment, instead of waiting several weeks for the answer. Thus, we can provide the patient with the most suited treatment at a much earlier point, saving valuable time.
Bjørn Tore Gjertsen has another reason to celebrate as well, as he recently was awarded with the Helse Vests Research Prize for 2024. He was awarded the Research Prize for his research on blood cancers, notably on AML, and his ability to combine basic research with clinical work.
Donald Gullberg
Donald Gullberg receives NOK 5.06 million from the Norwegian Cancer Society for the project Targeting the pro-tumorigenic integrin α11β1 in pre-clinical models.
The research in Gullberg’s group in connection with CCBIO is focused on work related to integrin α11. Integrins are small proteins on the cell surface that mediate contact between the cell's system and the surrounding environment. Previous studies have shown that integrin α11 is important for cancer tumors to grow, and Gullberg’s project deals with understanding the role of integrin α11 at the molecular and cellular levels to ultimately reach a better understanding of its role in the tumor stroma.
Gullberg will by this grant be able to continue to study the role of integrin α11 by 1) using two new mouse models (a humanized ITGA11 mouse strain and a fluorescent ITGA11; ROSA26mTmG reporter mouse strain) and 2) further explore the potential use of α11 function blocking antibodies in tumor models.
Congratulations on the Norwegian Cancer Society support to all three, and double congratulations to Gjertsen!