Establishing direct light therapy to combat brain tumors / EIC Pathfinder program supports international collaboration with EUR 2.2 million
17 January 2024
Gliomas are the most common type of brain tumors and are difficult to treat because they tend to be diffuse and are often located deep within the brain. A very promising and innovative technique for the therapy of gliomas will be investigated in a new EU project and should pave the way for clinical use. "We are convinced that our research will help to significantly improve the treatment of gliomas," said the coordinator of the project, Dr. Anne Régnier-Vigouroux of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU). The other project partners are Aston University in Birmingham, the University of Barcelona, LMU Munich, the Finnish laser manufacturer Modulight, and MODUS Research and Innovation Ltd., a British not-for-profit organization providing advice to secure research funding. Through its Pathfinder program, the European Innovation Council (EIC) supports the exploration of highly innovative and speculative new technologies at the very earliest phase of their development. The new GlioLighT project will receive funding of approximately EUR 2.2 million over the next three years.
Using extremely toxic singlet oxygen to combat gliomas
Gliomas are an extremely deadly form of cancer, mainly due to the inaccessibility of the brain and the widespread dissemination of the tumor cells. These diffuse cells are often anchored too deeply in the brain to be removed completely using current therapeutic techniques, such as resection, irradiation, or chemotherapy. A promising alternative to eliminate glioma cells is to generate reactive oxygen species (ROS) directly at the affected sites. Currently, ROS can only be produced through photodynamic therapy, which has been employed for decades but involves potentially toxic photosensitizers. To avoid detrimental side effects of this type of treatment, the GlioLighT partners propose a different approach involving direct light therapy. This method will entail the direct generation of ROS using laser light at a wavelength of 1,267 nanometers, which is in the near-infrared range. The irradiation of light will produce singlet oxygen, which destroys cancer cells.
"Assuming we can reach the tumor cells directly with laser light, we will no longer need photosensitizers as amplifiers. We will have a minimally invasive and selective procedure, representing a completely new strategy for glioma treatment," said Dr. Anne Régnier-Vigouroux. The benefits of this approach include improved efficacy of treatment, earlier intervention, and reduced costs. Currently, the precise cancer-inhibiting mechanism of direct light therapy and the safety of the procedure itself are not well understood.
Janus-headed macrophages: Anti-inflammatory potential promotes tumor growth
The laser radiation will also affect the cells of the immune system which are expected to fight tumor cells. "We will be paying special attention to the effects on tumor cells but also on immune cells, particularly the macrophages," emphasized Régnier-Vigouroux. Macrophages are scavenger cells that take up pathogens and render them harmless. They can trigger inflammatory reactions and thus contribute to the body’s immune response and the fight against tumor cells. However, they can also have anti-inflammatory activities and thus prevent other immune cells from attacking the tumor.
"Macrophages can kill tumor cells, but they can also be recruited and manipulated by them, resulting in tumor growth." It is this second possibility that Dr. Anne Régnier-Vigouroux aims to prevent: "We need to eliminate the tumor cells and, at the same time, trigger the immune cells in their vicinity to exert toxic effects on them."
Other aspects that the GlioLighT researchers will investigate include the type of tumor cell death induced by the laser light, the effect of laser light exposure on healthy cells in the brain, such as the neurons, and the determination of a safe dosage that can be administered without harming healthy cells. The project partners will work on innovative ultrashort pulse lasers to optimize the optical penetration through tissue and to minimize potential risks, ensuring that direct light therapy is suitable for clinical application. Ultimately, the development of a preclinical GlioLighT delivery and sensing system (pcGlio-DSS) should improve glioma treatment.
EIC Pathfinder program provides support for visionary and high-risk technologies in their early stages of development
The GlioLighT – Next Generation Glioma Treatments using Direct Light Therapy – project is being financed through the future-oriented EIC Pathfinder program under the aegis of the European Union's Horizon Europe program. The EU will provide a total of EUR 2.2 million in financial support to the project, of which approximately EUR 770,000 is earmarked for the research to be undertaken at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz. The purpose of the EIC Pathfinder Open program of the European Innovation Council is to identify radically new technologies that have the potential to create new markets. Grants are thus awarded to groundbreaking and highly speculative projects that are still in an early stage of development. The participants in a project that has been awarded EIC Pathfinder support are typically visionary and entrepreneurial-minded specialists and researchers at universities, research institutes, start-ups, high-tech SMEs, and individuals working in the industrial realm who have a particular interest in investigating and creating technological innovations.
Project coordinator Dr. Anne Régnier-Vigouroux has been research group leader at JGU's Institute of Developmental Biology and Neurobiology since January 2013. Her group focuses on the study of cerebral anti-tumor immunity, particularly on the role of microglia and macrophages in brain tumor biology.