Title:
Assistant clinical professor

Institute:
Université de Montréal, Institut du cancer de Montréal

Department:  
Medicine

Province:
Quebec

Training:
MD, Montreal
PhD, FRCP(c), Edinburgh, UK

Research interests:
Role of the microenvironment in the reprogramming of macrophages

Research Projects

Project title:
The Role of Butyrophilin in the Immunomodulation of Ovarian Cancer Microenvironment

Funding period:  
2010-2012

Program:
Operating Grant (Basic Research)

Summary:
Ovarian cancer (OC) is the fifth leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the Western world, the second most common gynecological cancer and the leading cause of death from gynecological malignancies. Largely asymptomatic, over 70% of patients with OC are diagnosed at an advanced stage of the disease. Despite various treatment modalities, overall survival has only shown minimal improvements over the past 30 years. Therefore, a better understanding on how these tumors manage to evade from the immune system is essential for the development of new therapeutic strategies. We previously identified a gene involved in the immune system, butyrophilin, where high levels were associated with a better survival in cancer patients. In this project, we plan to study how butyrophilin can affect ovarian cancer cells. We also want to decipher how an immune cell abundantly present in the ovarian tumor, the macrophage, can be affected by this molecule and help the immune system to fight the tumor. These findings could help to find new forms of therapies.