Inserm UMR 1069 - Équipe Nutrition, Croissance et Cancer (N2C)

Labeled Inserm since 2002, the UMR 1069 "Nutrition, Growth and Cancer" (N2C) (Inserm / University of Tours) is a multidisciplinary single team unit (biology, physiology, oncology, nutrition, preclinical and clinical) led by Professor Christophe Vandier (Director) and Pr Gaëlle Fromont (Deputy Director).

The project is at the intersection of the two fields nutrition and cancer, with the concept that cancerous disease results from interactions between the host and the tumor. It is focused on the lipids of the diet stored in adipose tissue and synthetic lipids, from the laboratory, likely to limit tumor progression, increase the response to cancer treatments and limit cancer cachexia.

The Inserm Unit UMR 1069 brings together researchers and clinicians, as well as engineers and technicians with complementary expertise and skills in Clinical Oncology and Nutrition, in Physiology, Biology and Experimental Biochemistry.

As pointed out by the evaluation commissions, the strength of our Unit is to bring together within our single team the expertise and resources to perform translational research:
- from patients to the laboratory and from the laboratory to the patients.
- from the lipid composition of tissues to the mechanisms of action of identified lipids.
- on lipids of food or of synthetic origin as modifiers of the therapeutic response.

Our research project is focused on 3 interconnected aims:
- Role of lipids in the deregulation of mitochondrial hepatic and skeletal muscle bioenergetics induced by cancer cachexia.
- Role of n-3 PUFA, sterols and cardiolipins in the regulation of tumor progression, prognosis and response to treatments.
- Role of ether-lipid in calcium signaling.

The laboratory’s work has 3 long-term objectives:
- To define favorable conditions for primary cancer prevention by diet
- To improve cancer treatments
- To reinforce the physiology of the patient by preventing cancer-related cachexia (profound weakening of the body related to very severe malnutrition)

The Nutrition, Growth and Cancer team is located at the Faculty of Medicine and is directly associated with clinical oncology wards at Bretonneau hospital.

Mise à jour du site: 07/11/2017
Mise à jour de la page: 02/09/2020