Researchers from the Basque Country are coordinating the European project TITAN for the advance of innovative cancer treatments

A European consortium of leading biomedical research institutions has launched TITAN, an oncology research project funded in 2025 under the Joint Transnational Call 2024 of TRANSCAN-3, one of Europe's main calls for transnational cancer research.

With a budget of €1.2 million, the project aims to accelerate the preclinical and translational development of Aurkins, an innovative family of recently patented chemotherapeutic compounds with high potential against difficult-to-treat solid tumors, especially liver cancers.

A leading multidisciplinary international consortium

The project is coordinated by Prof. Jesús Bañales and Dr. Pedro Rodrigues, specialists in liver cancer biology at the Biogipuzkoa Health Research Institute of the Basque Government's Department of Health (Donostia/San Sebastián, Spain), Ikerbasque, and CIBERehd. It brings together a leading European consortium in translational oncology with the aim of accelerating the transfer of scientific knowledge toward new therapeutic options.

TITAN integrates five leading institutions from four European countries, combining complementary capabilities and advanced technologies. In Spain, Prof. Fernando Cossío and Dr. Iván Rivilla, from the University of the Basque Country and Donostia International Physics Center (Donostia/San Sebastián), contribute their expertise in the design and synthesis of new compounds. In France, Professor Jean-Charles Nault and Dr. Sandra Rebouissou, from the INSERM Cordeliers Research Centre (Paris), contribute their expertise in molecular characterization and tumor genomic profiling. In Italy, the Humanitas Research Hospital IRCCS (Milan), represented by Professor Ana Lleo and Dr. Michela Polidoro, incorporates cancer-on-a-chip technologies to model tumor behavior in physiological environments. Meanwhile, Dr. Elena Palma, from the Foundation for Liver Research (London, UK), brings her experience in precision tumor sectioning models, a key platform for evaluating drug response in living tissue.

The combination of specialized expertise in cancer biology, medicinal and computational chemistry, genomics, and advanced tumor modeling place TITAN in a strong position to drive the development of Aurkines from the experimental phase to their potential clinical application.

A Promising Therapeutic Candidate

Aurkins, designed, synthesized, and patented by teams from the Biogipuzkoa Health Research Institute, the University of the Basque Country, and Donostia International Physics Center, have demonstrated efficacy in various preclinical cancer models, including tumors resistant to previous chemotherapy treatments.

Recent results, published in the Journal of Hepatology and the Journal of Chemical Information and Modeling, support the potential of this family of compounds as a novel strategy against solid tumors. They also suggest their possible application in other high-incidence cancers where therapeutic resistance remains a key factor in relapse and a poorer prognosis.

Based on this, TITAN will evaluate the antitumor activity of Aurkins both as monotherapy and in combination with immunotherapy in different tumor types, with the aim of expanding their therapeutic scope. To achieve this, the project will employ advanced and personalized human models—including cancer-on-a-chip systems, organoids, and precision tumor sections—that allow for a more accurate reproduction of tumor biology and a more robust and clinically relevant assessment of treatment response.

Kickoff Meeting

The TITAN project held its kickoff meeting on March 30 and 31, 2026, at the Humanitas Research Hospital in Milan, Italy. The meeting brought together all participating entities to align the scientific strategy, coordinate the main work packages, and establish the foundations for a three-year international collaboration focused on addressing unmet medical needs in oncology.

With a solid scientific foundation, a promising therapeutic candidate, and a highly integrated consortium, TITAN begins its journey with the goal of advancing the development of new cancer therapies and expanding treatment options for patients with tumors difficult to treat.