Wrocław Medical University receives 34.1 million zł funding for an 8-year study on personalized treatment for HER2-negative breast cancer.
Project PRIORITY: 34.1 Million zł for Fighting HER2-Negative Breast Cancer
Wrocław Medical University is launching a multi-year research project that will change how breast cancer is treated. Thanks to 34.1 million zł in funding from the Medical Research Agency, scientists will investigate how to precisely tailor therapy to the biology of a specific patient’s tumor.
The non-commercial clinical research PRIORITY is planned for eight years and will involve 440 women with HER2-negative breast cancer. Scientists will use spatial transcriptomics to analyze tumor changes at the molecular level.
Order of Drug Administration: Can Changing the Chemotherapy Regimen Save Lives?
Breast cancer remains one of the most commonly diagnosed malignant tumors in women worldwide. Most patients with HER2-negative tumors do not respond to targeted therapies against the HER2 protein, making neoadjuvant chemotherapy increasingly important in treatment.
This preoperative treatment typically involves sequential administration of various cytostatic drugs. Studies indicate that the order of administration may significantly impact effectiveness, but it remains unknown which order is optimal for individual patients.
PIP Protein and Transcriptomics: How Tumor Biology Will Guide Treatment Strategy
A key element of the project is the analysis of the PIP (prolactin-induced protein), which the Wrocław team has previously linked to better chemotherapy response. Researchers will investigate whether PIP levels can indicate treatment effectiveness and help determine the best regimen for each patient.
The team will also conduct advanced transcriptome analysis to examine gene activity profiles in tumor cells, aiming to personalize treatment based on molecular characteristics.
Personalized Treatment Instead of Statistics: A New Era in Oncology
PRIORITY will be a randomized phase IV clinical trial conducted under conditions close to daily hospital practice. Patients with breast cancer in stages II and III will be randomly assigned to two groups differing in the order of standard cytostatic administration.
If hypotheses are confirmed, doctors will gain reliable guidance for treatment initiation to increase complete response rates before surgery, while patients will benefit from more effective, personalized therapy.