New Technologies in Oncology
Team leader – Wojciech Jozwicki, PhD, prof. NCU.
Technological progress in medicine means improving diagnostic and therapeutic techniques. However, it is also a source of a certain excess of information about the disease, from the point of view of perception even by a highly qualified employee of a medical unit. It cannot be ruled out that the acquired data contain important information that is not directly available to humans and requires the use of advanced IT tools. Similarly, the selection of new therapies requires the analysis of an increasing amount of data. The development of information technology enables the participation of systems based on artificial intelligence in the process of developing medical data, to an extent that was unattainable until recently. In the current scientific task, we will focus on assessing the susceptibility of cells, including cancer cells, to new substances from the group of phytochemicals, in particular polyphenols. The drugs obtained from this group of compounds are characterized by minimization, or even complete suppression, of side effects compared to conventional chemotherapy.
The innovative activities included in the project include: (i) purification techniques for compounds of natural origin; (ii) assessment of their bioavailability and natural activity; (iii) evaluation of their anticancer, anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective properties in in vitro models; (iv) tools and techniques of data analysis using artificial intelligence (AI), in assessing the mechanism of action of the tested substances and their usefulness in new cancer therapies. In cooperation with colleagues from the Faculty of Chemical Engineering – University Rovira Virgili, Spain, it is planned to acquire technology for extracting substances from selected plants and to assess the effect of extracts on cancer cells. The development of artificial intelligence algorithms supporting the selection of extracts and consultations on the development of results will be carried out in cooperation with Animal and Human Health Engineering, Belgium, the University of Alabama in Birmingham, USA and the Institute of Chemical Technology and Engineering of the Poznań University of Technology. Research tasks are carried out as part of the cooperation of two faculties: the Faculty of Health Sciences and the Faculty of Medicine of the Nicolaus Copernicus University. The search for oncological therapies alternative to population treatment is one of the priority tasks of science today. Our research also has a deep cognitive value, giving a better understanding of the cancer process – its formation, development and impact on a living organism. We believe that the obtained results will allow us to have an important voice in this field of medical science.
Dr. hab. Wojciech Jóźwicki, prof. NCU – is the head of the Department of Cancer Pathology and Pathomorphology in the Department of Oncology at the Faculty of Health Sciences of the NCU Collegium Medicum. He graduated from the Medical Faculty of the Medical Academy in Bydgoszcz in 1987. After the post-graduate internship, he started working at the Department of Clinical Pathomorphology of the Medical University of Bydgoszcz. He obtained his 1st and 2nd degree specialization in pathomorphology in 1991 and 1996, respectively. In 2005 he obtained the degree of doctor of medical sciences, and the degree of habilitated doctor in 2017. His main interests are related to the study of the formation of the biological malignancy of a cancerous tumor and the search for new prognostic and predictive factors. The subject of his scientific interest in recent years is the concept of inhibiting the development of the neoplastic process by modulation of fatty acid metabolism. He also undertook cooperation within other research programs, such as the role of the endocrine vitamin D system (vitamin D3 receptor, vitamin D metabolizing enzymes) and melanogenesis in the pathogenesis of malignant melanoma. The results of the conducted research are the subject of numerous publications. He participated in projects aimed at defining standards and strategies for determining somatic mutations in the KRAS, NRAS and EGFR genes in colorectal and lung cancers, as well as in several international scientific projects carried out in cooperation with the University of Alabama in Birmingham. In 2017-2019, he was the Chairman of the Council for Scientific Development and Improvement of Treatment Quality at the Oncology Center in Bydgoszcz. Since 2020, he has been the Provincial Consultant in the field of pathomorphology in the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship. In the years 2020-2022, he was the head of the NCU IDUB EF grant Profiling cancer.