HORIZON-MISS-2025-02-CANCER-02

Investigating the Role of Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals in Obesity-Related Cancer Risk in Children

Project Summary:
Childhood obesity is a rising global epidemic and a major risk factor for cancer later in life. Emerging research suggests that early-life exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) may alter immune regulation and metabolic programming, increasing cancer susceptibility.
This project aims to assess the burden of EDCs in children and elucidate their immunological and metabolic impacts, thereby contributing directly to cancer prevention strategies — a core objective of the Horizon Europe Cancer Mission.

Objectives:

• Quantify the presence of priority EDCs in serum, blood, and urine samples from obese and non-obese children.

• Characterize immune system alterations associated with EDC burden.

• Identify early biomarkers linking chemical exposure, immune dysregulation, and cancer risk.

Methodology:

• Collection of serum, blood, and urine samples from pediatric patients at 3 largest clinical hospitals in Poland (looking for collaborators in this area too).

• Targeted chemical analysis using advanced mass spectrometry and validated biomonitoring protocols.

• Immunological profiling (cytokine panels, immune cell subpopulations) linked to clinical phenotypes.

• Statistical modeling to identify exposure-risk relationships, adjusting for confounding factors.

Expected Outcomes:

• Establishment of EDC exposure profiles in a pediatric population.

• Identification of immunological signatures associated with early carcinogenic processes.

• Development of clinical risk indicators for early preventive intervention.

Collaboration Opportunities:
We seek partners with expertise in pediatric oncology, biostatistics, and public health policy to help expand the translational impact of our findings into preventive strategies.

We are a specialized research team with strong expertise in toxicology, immunology, and environmental health. Our work focuses particularly on the effects of endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) and their role in obesity and metabolic diseases. We operate at the intersection of clinical research and environmental toxicology, working closely with one of the largest clinical hospitals to access and analyze human biological samples, especially from pediatric populations. Our team is highly experienced in human biomonitoring, immune system profiling, and epidemiological study design.

Our key areas of expertise relevant to this project include:

• Human biomonitoring of endocrine-disrupting chemicals (serum, blood, urine analysis).

• Clinical study coordination in pediatric populations.

• Advanced toxicological and immunological analyses, including cytokine profiling and immune system biomarkers.

• Expertise in linking environmental exposures to immune and metabolic outcomes related to cancer risk.

• Strong experience in cross-disciplinary research connecting toxicology, immunology, endocrinology, and public health.

Specifically, we are looking for:

• Other clinical hospitals across Europe to broaden the patient cohort, ensuring a larger and more diverse pediatric sample size.

• Experts in microplastics analysis to complement our chemical exposure assessment and explore emerging pollutants linked to obesity and cancer risk.

• Statisticians and biostatisticians specializing in clinical epidemiology, to strengthen data analysis, model exposure–health relationships, and support biomarker identification.

• Research institutes and universities with experience in environmental health, pediatric oncology, or molecular epidemiology.