Research topics

 

The research topic of our team deals with the design, development and in vivo use of antibodies, peptides and derived molecules for cancer diagnosis, cancer therapy, and the study of their combination with ionizing radiations.
Our goal is to exploit the recognition specificity of antibodies or peptides for a target tumor. In oncology, the target can be an associated tumor antigen, a growth factor receptor, the product of an oncogene or of a "tumor suppressor" mutated gene, or even a molecule involved in angiogenesis.

The initial enthusiasm caused by the advent of the monoclonal antibodies in the eighties was followed by a wave of skepticism due to the disappointing results of the first clinical studies. However, thanks to many recent clinical studies, the proven therapeutic efficacy of several antibodies led to their approval by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration, USA) and EMEA (European Agency for the Evaluation of Medicinal Products). Today, there is a renewed interest for this field thanks to readily available molecules coming from antibody engineering technology and a better knowledge of their therapeutic indications. Many antibodies today are recognised drugs and an increasing part of cancer therapy.

The main goal of our research is to promote the use of monoclonal antibodies, peptides and derived molecules for the diagnosis and therapy of cancers. Our translational research project is organized into 5 interdependent projects sharing both techniques and experimental animal models :