Cancer is a devastating disease and a leading cause of death worldwide, accounting for nearly one in six deaths. Especially once cancer has spread to distant organs (metastasis), effective treatment options are very limited and a stunning 90% of current cancer-related deaths are caused by metastatic disease. The high morbidity and reduced quality of life of metastatic disease has significant life-long societal and economic consequences. We urgently need better and more affordable treatments to prevent and inhibit metastatic progression.    

Aim

The HOUDINI Network suggests a game-changing holistic research approach aiming to establish novel prediction tools and treatment approaches to conquer cancer metastasis. While current therapies target the tumour cells or the tumour’s vasculature or the immune system, it is HOUDINI’s mission to increase our understanding of the complex metastatic process in order to simultaneously target not one, but multiple key players of metastatic disease.

HOUDINI is dedicated to investigate the metastatic microenvironment and its interactions with tumour cells. To this end, bio-engineers, cell biologists and clinicians will work together to engineer in vitro 3D mini-tissues that reliably mimic the biological complexity, architecture and mechanical characteristics of healthy (human) organs. Advanced (single)cell and 3D tissue imaging technologies will be applied to follow tumour cell invasion. Molecular and cell biology methods will be complemented with biomechanical and physiological functional parameters to study the microenvironmental changes induced by the invading cancer cell.

Ethics

To ensure responsible innovation, HOUDINI will engage with patients, citizen and other stakeholders to align realistic expectations and to guide fundamental research from the very start. Converging with ethics and health economics expert, we will connect societal and patient needs with stakeholder engagement and ethical guideline definitions. This will ensure that the fundamental new insights and technological innovations will be acceptable and meaningful to guide clinical implementation.

Impact

HOUDINI is focused on two of the most common sites of metastasis, bone and liver, but extension to other metastatic organs will be actively pursued. Currently, three small projects have been initiated to build a fundament for new collaborations across the three institutes. The HOUDINI Network comprises a group of enthusiastic senior work group leaders and young researchers from different disciplines eager to apply the holistic principles of convergent research.