Light Meets Precision:
EIC Pathfinder Project SCALPEL Pioneering a Revolutionary Photoimmunotherapy for Cancer
Theo Theodossiou, Project coordinator
In a groundbreaking effort to revolutionise modern oncology, the SCALPEL project launches a Europe wide initiative aimed at redefining cancer treatment by using light to precisely ‘click’ tags to cancer cells, enabling the immune system to recognise and destroy them with unparalleled accuracy. Project coordinator is Theo Theodossiou, head of the Protonics project group at the Department of Radiation Biology at OUH.
The multidisciplinary initiative funded by the European Innovation Council Pathfinder programme under Horizon Europe with a total budget of more than EUR 4 million aims to revolutionise modern oncology offering new hope for millions worldwide.
From major journals, first or last author from the Institute for Cancer Research
Eggebø MS, Heinzelbecker J, Palashati H, Chandler N, Tran TT, Li Y, Yang W, Laos M, Blaas I, Rustad EH, Bollineni RC, Delic-Sarac M, Lund-Johansen F, Nielsen MM, Olweus J(2025) TCR-engineered T cells targeting a shared β-catenin mutation eradicate solid tumors Nat Immunol(in press) DOI 10.1038/s41590-025-02252-1, PubMed 40866620
Ullern A, Holm K, Andresen NK, Røssevold AH, Bang C, Naume B, Hov JR, Kyte JA(2025) Gut microbiota diversity is prognostic in metastatic hormone receptor-positive breast cancer patients receiving chemotherapy and immunotherapy Mol Oncol(in press) DOI 10.1002/1878-0261.70117, PubMed 40852937
Foldvari Z, Brennan MS, Titov A, Jacobsen SEW, Olweus J(2025) Targeting the roots of myeloid malignancies with T cell receptors Nat Rev Cancer(in press) DOI 10.1038/s41568-025-00857-0, PubMed 40841587
Sagini K, Selvarajah M, Romero S, Bassols-Citores E, Martin-Gracia B, Ramirez-Garrastacho M, Rise F, Endzeliņš E, Sadovska L, Skorinkina D, Boguševiča M, Cešeiko R, Čampa M, Klavina A, Linē A, Llorente A(2025) The Redox Enzyme Thioredoxin Is Increased in Plasma Extracellular Vesicles From Endurance-Trained Females in Response to Acute Exercise FASEB J, 39(16), e70927 DOI 10.1096/fj.202500678R, PubMed 40810354
Switlyk MD, Dale E, Tafjord S, Willumsen L, Hole KH, Hompland T(2025) Reduced field-of-view DWI outperforms conventional DWI in assessing tumor heterogeneity and HPV status in head and neck cancer Sci Rep, 15(1), 31889 DOI 10.1038/s41598-025-17284-8, PubMed 40883428
Mauthe M, van de Beek N, Mari M, Korsten G, Nobari P, Castelino KB, de Mattos EP, Ouhida I, Dijkstra JL, Schipper-Krom S, de la Ballina LR, Mueller MR, Simonsen A, Hipp MS, Kapitein LC, Kampinga HH, Reggiori F(2025) A chaperone-proteasome-based fragmentation machinery is essential for aggrephagy Nat Cell Biol(in press) DOI 10.1038/s41556-025-01747-1, PubMed 40866512