Heterogeneity of pancreatic cancer-associated fibroblasts: clinical impact and interactions in the tumor microenvironment

Summary:

Dr. Neuzillet will present an overview of her team’s work about Cancer-Associated Fibroblasts (CAF) heterogeneity in pancreatic cancer, the tools they develop to study CAF interactions with other players in the tumor microenvironment (tumor cells, immune cells, intratumor microbiota), and their multiscale approach for the treatment of this deadly cancer.

Selected publications:
The immunological landscape in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma and overcoming resistance to immunotherapy. Hilmi M, et al. Lancet Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2023 doi: 10.1016/S2468-1253(23)00207-8.
Intratumoral microbiome is driven by metastatic site and associated with immune histopathological parameters: An ancillary study of the SHIVA clinical trial. Hilmi M, et al. Eur J Cancer. 2023 doi: 10.1016/j.ejca.2023.01.024
Periostin- and podoplanin-positive cancer-associated fibroblast subtypes cooperate to shape the inflamed tumor microenvironment in aggressive pancreatic adenocarcinoma. Neuzillet C, et al. J Pathol. 2022 doi: 10.1002/path.6011.
Inter- and intra-tumoural heterogeneity in cancer-associated fibroblasts of human pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. Neuzillet C, et al.  J Pathol. 2019 doi: 10.1002/path.5224.

Biography:

Pr. Cindy Neuzillet is M.D., Ph.D., H.D.R., head of GI Oncology at Curie Institute, Saint Cloud, France. 

She was board certified in Hepato-Gastroenterology in 2013 and in Oncology in 2014. Her thesis work, at Barts Cancer Institute (Pr. Kocher’s lab, London), and then at the Center for Cancer Research of Toulouse (Dr. Bousquet’s lab), aimed at establishing a molecular and functional classification of pancreatic cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAF) (J Pathol 2019, awarded the Jass Prize for Research Excellence; J Pathol 2022). Her research work (Radvanyi’s Team, UMR144, Institut Curie) is focused on interactions between tumor cells, stromal cells (fibroblasts, immune cells), and intra-tumoral microbiota in pancreatic and biliary tract cancers.

She is a lead member of the PRODIGE pancreatic and biliary tract cancers working groups for clinical trials and national PI of several multicenter trials in this field. She co-chaired the working group on national guidelines for pancreatic and biliary tract cancer management in France. She is President of the French Pancreatic Club and the Association for Biliary Tract Cancer and Diseases, and Chair of the EORTC Pancreatic Cancer task force.

She is author of 117 PubMed-indexed articles (H-index 28).