18/03/2025
A Groundbreaking Project for Cancer Prevention
The CRC is proud to announce that Dr. Jérôme Galon, director of the Integrative Cancer Immunology Laboratory at the CRC, has secured 2.9€ million in funding as part of the Impact Santé program, led by Inserm under the France 2030 initiative. His project, DARVAC, which aims to develop vaccines capable of preventing the onset of certain cancers, is one of 11 selected projects to support high-risk, high-impact health research.
The objective of the DARVAC project is to study immune system responses to the earliest signs of non-virus-related cancers, in order to develop therapeutic tools to prevent their development.
Our vaccines will be based on molecules derived from the “dark matter” of the genome, identified as playing a key role in immune defense. This groundbreaking research is expected to lead to major advances in cancer prevention by offering vaccines that act even before cancers develop.
Jérôme Galon
The primary innovation of this project lies in the study of molecules derived from the genome’s “dark matter”—non-coding RNAs—recently identified as playing a crucial role in the immune response at the early stages of colorectal cancer. DARVAC aims to prevent cancers that currently lack any preventive solutions by targeting these molecules.
By leveraging little-known immune mechanisms, this new form of vaccination offers early and innovative protection against certain types of cancer.
A Project with Major Scientific and Societal Impact
The Impact Santé program, launched as part of France 2030, funds ambitious research programs that carry a high degree of uncertainty. However, their success could revolutionize scientific knowledge, influence medical practices, improve human health, and generate significant socio-economic benefits.
The DARVAC project, led by Jérôme Galon in collaboration with a consortium of researchers*, paves the way for a new generation of preventive cancer vaccines, complementing current screening strategies and treatments. With 10 million cancer-related deaths occurring annually, such an advancement could reduce the incidence of many currently unpreventable cancers, improve patient care, and lower healthcare costs associated with heavy treatments.
By selecting DARVAC, Inserm acknowledges the importance of this innovative approach and its potential to revolutionize cancer prevention in the future. This also highlights the commitment of the Centre de Recherche des Cordeliers teams to immunology and oncology research.
* Consortium DARVAC :
Jérôme Galon, chercheur principal (Laboratoire d’immunologie intégrative du cancer, CRC) ; Michel Salzet et Isabelle Fournier (Inserm, Université de Lille, CHU Lille) ; Jean-Baptiste Latouche (CHU de Rouen, Université de Rouen-Normandie) ; Nathalie Labarrière (Inserm, Nantes Université) ; Olivier Adotevi (Inserm, Université de Bourgogne Franche-Comté)