FORINGEN

RESEARCH NETWORK FOR INFECTOGENOMICS

VA-6 Bacteria and cancer

Cancer diseases are more and more frequent, the main reason being the increasing life expectancy. Furthermore, the detection of some cancers was first made possible by the technical innovation of diagnostic procedures. Thus, the present situation requires the development of new therapies against cancer. The main objective of a modern tumour therapy should be to completely eliminate metastasis as well as primary tumour, thereby remaining safe for the patient. And, in contrast to the currently available therapies comprising surgical removal of the tumour, chemotherapy and radiotherapy, a modern therapy of this kind should focus on the selective recognition and destruction of tumour cells. Admittedly, the specific targeting of malignant cells in the practice is strongly compromised by the extremely high genetical and phenotypical variability of most of the tumours. However, an elegant way to circumvent this hindrance is the use of bacteria capable not only to selectively accumulate into tumour tissues but also to display anti-tumour activity. The aim of this project is to engineer such bacterial strains and to test their application in the tumour therapy.