To facilitate project implementation and monitoring of the progress, the work load within GENINCA was broken down in several work packages, each associated with specific tasks but all included in an overall work plan.
Work package 1 is devoted to a detailed characterization of cancer initiating stem cells. We will then establish colon and liver carcinoma cancer stem cell lines and test their tumourigenic potential by injection into immunocompromised mice. In work package 2 the partners will establish new markers to identify tumour stem cells. In addition, early lesions will be collected, investigated in mouse model experiments and analyzed. The data obtained will be used in work package 4 to establish the underlying mechanisms of genomic aberrations and genomic instability. Analysis of possible genetic changes in the microenvironment and performance functional analysis is done in work package 3. Work packages 2, 3 and 4 will contribute to work package 5, in which novel markers for tumour diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment will be identified.
Overall project management is centralised in work package 6, while dissemination of results and project progress is done within work package 7. These activities focus on delivering complex messages to the general public in understandable words. Experience it yourself by playing the GENINCA game!