A new precision medicine hunt in prostate cancer begins – New project funded by the EP PerMed
Doctor Alfonso Urbanucci, Group Leader of the Genomic Regulation for Precision Cancer Medicine Laboratory in MET, will lead the Finnish partnership, supported by funding from Business Finland.
METAPRO aims to confront one of the most persistent challenges in oncology: overcoming drug-resistance mechanisms in prostate cancer through a combined pharmacogenomic and advanced translational modelling approach — including the use of patient-derived “little tumor avatars.”
A Precision Medicine Challenge
Prostate cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths in Finland.
"There are approximately a thousand new diagnoses each year. Many tumors are initially treatable, but resistance to standard therapies inevitably emerges”, explains Urbanucci.
METAPRO was created to break this cycle through three key objectives:
- Mapping resistance — uncovering the molecular and metabolic mechanisms that allow tumors to escape therapy.
- Pharmacogenomic drug matching — identifying combinations of drugs that precisely exploit the specific vulnerabilities of each tumor’s DNA.
- Validating therapies in ultra-precise translational models — ensuring that laboratory discoveries rapidly evolve into meaningful clinical benefits.
Organoids: The “Little Tumor Avatars”
To achieve the goals, the project will leverage one of the most advanced technologies in modern oncology: patient-derived organoids.
“These are true ‘little tumor avatars’, mini-tumors grown from each patient’s own cancer. They faithfully reproduce the biological features of the original tumor, allowing us to test and optimize therapies in a safe and highly predictive environment,” Urbanucci notes.
The project also benefits from the involvement of prostate cancer patient associations, as well as key Finnish partners including ORION Pharma Oy, Smerud Medical Research Oy, and the Tampere University Hospital (TAYS), all part of the Finnish steering board coordinated by Urbanucci.
An International Effort to Transform Prostate Cancer Treatment
The EU project is coordinated by Professor Sabrina Arena, head of the Translational Cancer Genetics Laboratory at IRCSS Candiolo (Italy). Alongside Urbanucci, the consortium includes Professor Luke Gaughan and Doctor Pasquale Rescigno (Translational and Clinical Research Institute Newcastle University Centre for Cancer, United Kingdom), and Professor Wael Mansour (University of Hamburg, Germany).
METAPRO was selected through a highly competitive evaluation process — only 22 projects were funded out of 110 submitted across Europe. With a total budget of €1,078,887, METAPRO positions itself as a high-impact initiative driven by excellence.
