Update: 2024

Le main risk factor bronchopulmonary cancer or bronchial cancer is smoking.

At the heart of the fight against cancer at the Pasteur Institute of Lille, the research team "Efficacy and resistance to targeted anti-tumor therapies" of Dr. David Tulasne is imagining new avenues of treatment for this cancer.

Discover the work being done against lung cancer to help everyone live longer.

Figures and data on lung cancer

Lung cancer is the leading cause of death by cancer in France with approximately 33,000 deaths per year.

With about 50 000 new cases estimated in 2023, it is the 2ndrd the most frequent in France among men and 3rd in women.

The proportion of women infections are increasing sharply with nearly 20,000 new cases in 2023 and are stagnating in the man with more than 30,000 cases.

Lung cancer is all the more serious because it is often discovered late and at a metastatic stage.

It exists two types lung cancer:

What are the symptoms of lung cancer?

The symptoms of lung cancer Symptoms can vary depending on the location and stage of the disease. Often, symptoms appear at an advanced stage, making early diagnosis difficult.

Here are the main signs that can reveal lung cancer:

What are the causes of lung cancer?

Responsible for 80 to 90% of cases, Smoking is the main risk factor for lung cancer.The greater and longer the tobacco consumption, the higher the risk.

Other risk factors for lung cancer have also been established:

What is the treatment for lung cancer?

Depending on the type of lung cancer, the therapeutic arsenal may include the surgery, radiotherapy, conventional chemotherapy (also known as "cytotoxic"), immunotherapy, and targeted therapies, which can be used alone or in combination.

Researchers at the Pasteur Institute of Lille, including Dr. David Tulasne's team, are working tirelessly to understand and develop innovative treatments for lung cancer. It is now possible to detect abnormalities in cancer cells and develop treatments that target them precisely. These treatments are called targeted therapiesThese drugs only destroy diseased cells and spare healthy cells as much as possible, unlike conventional chemotherapy.

Lung cancer research at the Pasteur Institute of Lille

Lung cancer is a scourge that a strong impact on longevityIt was therefore natural that the Pasteur Institute of Lille, a reference center on longevity, took up the issue.

"This gives us an additional responsibility. We must guarantee a research effort“ explains Professor Alexis Cortot, head of the Department of Pulmonology and Thoracic Oncology at the University Hospital of Lille, and collaborator of the “Efficacy and resistance to targeted anti-tumor therapies” team Dr. David Tulasne at the Pasteur Institute in Lille. 

This team works primarily on tyrosine kinase receptorsIndeed, these receptors, often implicated in cancers, are targeted by numerous targeted therapies. The team is working specifically on the MET receptor and is attempting to map these mutations in cancers and understand their consequences in order to develop future targeted treatments.Understanding all of their mechanisms allows us to formulate new hypotheses and anticipate, or at the very least, to react more quickly." explains the researcher.

Improving the effectiveness of targeted therapies and anticipating resistance

Under targeted therapy, some resistors can occur: this is then referred to as therapeutic failure. The team models resistance to targeted therapies in order to better understand and anticipate themThis involves, on the one hand, discovering previously unknown resistance mechanisms and, on the other hand, “Understanding all the possible resistance mechanisms is crucial for developing treatment combinations. The tumor adapts, and so does research. It's up to us to win the race.“continues Dr. David Tulasne.

Diagnosing mutations

Clinical trials on therapies targeting the MET receptor are encouraging and give rise to an estrong therapeutic hopeIndeed, these targeted therapies provide a significantly better quality of life for patients suffering from these cancers. Life expectancy is increased and treatments, being less invasive, are better tolerated..

Translational research fosters strong dialogue and interaction between researchers and clinicians, which is a real added value. This facilitates research; it's the key.

Professor Alexis Cortot

Targeted therapies, like immunotherapy, represent a real hope to radically transform lung cancer treatment and develop a new generation of targeted, personalized treatment depending on each tumor and, above all, each patient. This precision medicine could not exist without basic research and without donor support in order to propose effective therapeutic strategies with fewer side effects, but also to better identify the patients who could benefit from them. Fighting this cancer and its specific characteristics means doing everything possible to enable everyone to live better, longer lives..

A recent study by our team illustrates this point. Through a collaboration with the Barts Cancer Institute in London, the Department of Pulmonology, and the Center for Biology and Pathology at Lille University Hospital, we demonstrated that a mutated form of the MET receptor, responsible for cases of non-small cell lung cancer, always requires activation by its ligand, HGF. This study challenges the paradigm that a mutated form of a receptor acts independently of its ligand and suggests that tumor expression of HGF could be a valuable biomarker for stratifying patients who might benefit from MET-targeted therapies.

Other forms of cancer research

Understanding angiogenesis

Dr. Fabrice Soncin's team is working on angiogenesis, the process by which new blood vessels grow from existing ones. When a tumor grows and reaches a certain size, it can no longer obtain nourishment from itself, so it begins communicating with adjacent blood vessels. These vessels are then implicated in the growth of malignant tumors and the development of metastases. Researchers at the Pasteur Institute in Lille are working to suppress tumor vascularization, which could potentially lead to the elimination of the cancer.

Understanding how a cell becomes cancerous

Dr. Dominique Leprince's team is conducting research on the tumor suppressor gene HIC1. This gene is involved in the DNA damage response. Cells regularly undergo transformations following physical or chemical attacks that break DNA. The cell can then repair these breaks, but errors can occur. These modifications can then create mutations that may play a role in tumor development. This fundamental research aims to better understand the mechanism of action of HIC1 and how its silencing leads to tumor development.

Understanding the function of bone metastases from prostate cancer

Le prostate cancer Cancer is a well-diagnosed and treated cancer with a relatively slow progression. However, metastases can develop later, a "silent onset," since no marker can prevent it. Once metastases are present, the cancer is incurable, which currently accounts for 20% of cases. Given that metastases are responsible for mortality, improving their diagnosis is essential. Dr. Duterque-Coquillaud's team is working to detect metastases earlier in order to increase the chances of survival. Finding a molecular signature, a kind of identity card for metastases, will allow the development of a minimally invasive marker, making early diagnosis possible through a simple blood or urine test.

Understanding the link between senescence and cancer cells

Professor Abbadie's team at the Pasteur Institute in Lille is investigating whether there is a link between the initial mechanisms of cancer and cellular senescence, the natural aging of cells in the body's tissues, during which cells cease to divide. The team seeks to understand how cells enter senescence, a state in which they no longer proliferate. This could potentially prevent the development of cancer, but it is also associated with DNA damage, which could, conversely, generate mutations and promote the development of cancer.

Understanding the effects of anticancer molecules

Immune InsighT, a biotech company specializing in immunoregulation in oncology, was founded on the campus of the Pasteur Institute of Lille in 2016. Led by Doctors Nadira Delhem and Olivier Moralès and directed by Hamza Aboussemdai, Immune InsighT offers unique services on an international scale. Many new drug candidates are stopped during clinical trials because they have detrimental effects on the immune system. The team, supported by the Pasteur Institute of Lille, therefore offers tests that highlight the potential effects these anticancer molecules might have, both positive and negative. This technique makes it possible to reliably and quickly detect the adverse effects of a new drug candidate and thus anticipate the failure of a long and costly clinical trial.

An innovation to combat lung cancer recurrence

The work carried out by Dr. Tulasne's team finds a natural extension within the Pulmonology and Thoracic Oncology department of Professor Cortot at Lille University Hospital. Several studies conducted in this department are informed by the results of basic research.

Thus, after participating in numerous studies evaluating tyrosine kinase inhibitors targeting the MET receptor, which demonstrated the efficacy of these treatments, the department now welcomes Studies evaluating a rapidly developing new therapeutic class: antibody-drug conjugates.

These are antibodies that recognize a protein present on the surface of cancer cells, coupled to a cytotoxic agent. This approach allows chemotherapy to be delivered directly to the tumor while partially sparing healthy tissues.“This is a very promising approach because it can exploit multiple targets present on cancer cells,” says Professor Cortot. The studies conducted at Lille University Hospital aim, on the one hand, to determine which biomarkers are appropriate to use, and on the other hand, to validate the effectiveness of these new treatments. This work illustrates once again the value of collaboration between researchers and clinicians.