Activités de Recherche du laboratoire

The research unit has a long-standing expertise in performing research at the interface between nutrition and cancer, and has received international recognition in this field. The team was the first to link diet-related changes in the breast-associated adipose tissue (lipidome) in relation to breast cancer development and metastasis. This finding is highly consistent with the hypothesis that the western diet plays a pivotal role in the development and the progression of several high incidence and mortality-inducing tumor types, including breast and prostate cancers. UMR1069 has also described the potential benefits of the clinical use of lipid nutrients in order to increase anticancer treatment efficiency. Cancer-induced cachexia, a progressive alteration in the nutritional status of patients that drastically affects their survival, is another association between cancer and nutrition being investigated. Specific dietary and pharmacological lipid interventions may have important beneficial effects and clinical applications.

Our scientific project is transverse in its expertises (biochemistry, physiology, metabolism, surgery, anatomopathology, nutrition and oncology) and resources (Sciences, Pharmacy, Medicine, IUT and CHRU). It aims at investigating the cellular mechanisms of action of lipids (ether-lipids, cardiolipins, sterols, polyunsaturated fatty acids) to regulate cancer cachexia and tumor progression (bed to bench side). The objective is to facilitate the transfer of such fundamental knowledge to patients developing chemo-or hormono-resistant cancers and/or metastases and/or cancer-induced cachexia (bench to bedside).

Our research programm for 2018-2022 is presented under the 3 following headlines:

A) Cancer cachexia: host energy metabolism disorder and regulatory lipids.

B) n-3 PUFA and sterols in the regulation of tumor progression, in prognosis and in the response to anticancer treatments.

C) Ether-lipids and calcium signaling in metastases.