Award to support the modelling and investigation of the tumor microenvironment of non-small cell lung cancer brain metastasis
Twenty to forty percent of lung cancer patients develop brain metastasis over the course of the disease progression. Currently there is an unmet clinical need for novel therapies for these patients due to limited understanding of the underlying molecular mechanisms. This information is vital for the identification of the unique vulnerabilities of these mechanisms for future therapeutic targeting but a lack of animal models that faithfully represent human lung cancer brain metastasis impedes progress in this domain.
Under the supervision of Pr Johanna Joyce, Benoît Duc's PhD research in the Joyce Lab will take advantage of collaborations with pathologists, surgeons and scientists within the Lausanne community and overseas, to reveal novel therapeutic combinations that target the non-cancerous cells in the tumors (the tumor microenvironment), including the immune cells. The objective is to generate a first of its kind mouse model of lung cancer that recapitulates all the steps of lung cancer brain metastasis.
"The ISREC Foundation's award in support of my PhD allows me to benefit from unique synergies amongst clinical and scientific collaborators to translate scientific findings into potential therapeutic strategies for patients." notes Benoît Duc.
In parallel, novel technologies will be leveraged that describe the cellular interactions that determine how the non-cancerous cells react to the cancer cells and where these interactions occur in the tumor.
This write up is based on the original news release of the ISREC Foundation.