Cancer is a major health problem worldwide, being the second leading cause of death globally – almost 10 million deaths in 2020 (from 19.3 million new cases), expected to rise up to 28.4 million cases in 2040 (a 47% rise in two decades). Numerous cytostatic agents have been developed, aiming at an improved antineoplastic activity coupled to decreased acquired resistance and deleterious side effects. These include Pt- and Pd-based compounds, introduced upon the discovery of cisplatin (cis-(NH3)2PtCl2) in the late 1960´s. Over the years, the classical structure-activity relationships (SARs) applied to these compounds have been broken, and new agents have been developed, namely complexes with other metal ions (e.g. Ni(II)) or comprising more than one metal centre such as Pt(II) and Pd(II) polynuclear chelates, which have been shown to be promising alternatives to the clinically used mononuclear Pt-drugs (cisplatin, carboplatin and oxaliplatin). Pd-compounds were found to display an enhanced anticancer activity and minimal side effects, particularly a dinuclear Pd-agent against human triple-negative breast cancer and osteosarcoma. In the present project mixed (heteronuclear) Pt/Pd complexes will also be envisaged, as they are expected to combine the increased cytotoxicity (against cancer cells) and decreased toxicity (towards healthy cells) of Pd-complexes to the lower lability (increased bioavailability) of Pt-compounds.
State:
Em curso
Period:
2025 a 2028
Funding:
250 000,00 €
Project code:
COMPETE2030-FEDER-00672800
Funding entity:
Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT)
Membros:
Maria Paula Matos Marques Catarro (investigador principal)
Luis Alberto Esteves Batista de Carvalho
Francisco Paulo de Sá Campos Gil
Ana Lucia Marques Batista de Carvalho
Joana Marques
Clara Martins
João Afonso Santos
Jéssica Silva
Diego Gianolio
Gianfelice Cinque
Vicky
Ana Gil
Tatiana Carneiro
Brian James Goodfellow
Carmen Diniz
Martin Vojtek
Joana Beatriz Sousa