On Friday, June 13, a scientific workshop "Tackling Drug Resistance in Cancer" was held at our Faculty as part of the international project DAADRAC (Development of Anticancer Agents for Drug-Resistant Cancers), which is implemented as part of the Interreg IPA Croatia-Serbia Cross-Border Cooperation Program Croatia – Serbia (HR-RS00053).
Scientists from Croatia and Serbia participated, and research on new compounds and mechanisms that help bypass resistance in tumor cells was presented. The workshop brought together researchers, clinicians and students, encouraging cooperation and knowledge sharing on one of the most pressing challenges in oncology.
The introductory lecture was held by Prof. Martina Smolić, PhD, Vice-Dean for Science and Postgraduate Studies and Assoc. Prof. Srđan Bjedov, PhD, DAADRAC project manager from the University of Novi Sad, who presented the project goals and the most important scientific aspects of the fight against drug resistance. Assistant Professor Bjedov then commented on the role of NRF2 modulators in the treatment of resistant tumors – an approach that is considered promising in newer therapies.
Osijek scientific team – Marija Hefer, mag. chem., Ana Petrović, MD, PhD, Prof. Robert Smolić, PhD, Prof. Aleksandar Včev, PhD, and Prof. Martina Smolić, PhD – presented the results of research on the treatment of tumor cells with newly synthesized compounds of colleagues from Novi Sad, and the role of MRP1 and caspase-3 in the mechanisms of resistance evasion in leukemic K562 cells.
After a lunch break and networking, scientists from Novi Sad started to present the results of their research. Sanja Đokić, Vesna Kojić and Jovana Francuz presented the results in the development and synthesis of hybrid analogues of (+)-antilactone A for the treatment of drug-resistant cancers, and Marina Savić presented androstane derivatives as potential anticancer agents for drug-resistant tumors.
The block of lectures was closed by colleagues from the Oncology Clinic of the Osijek University Hospital Center Josipa Flam and Sebastijan Spajić, and the topic of their professional and interesting lecture was the resistance of tumors to existing therapies.
In the laboratory part of the workshop, work with cell cultures used in the project was demonstrated, and all participants had the opportunity to visit the Laboratory for Translational Medicine of the Faculty, and see the equipment that our researchers use in research!
The DAADRAC project (2024–2025) is co-financed by EU funds, and FDMZ is the Croatian holder.
