Nice-Premium: You have just awarded a 500,000 euros grant to researchers in Nice. How and to whom were these grants awarded?
Jacques Raynaud: A total of €485,000 was allocated by ARC to 4 research teams at the Faculty of Medicine in Nice, whose projects were reviewed by ARC’s Scientific Council and approved by the Board of Directors during its December 2007 session.
The work of these teams was selected for their quality and the challenges they represent in the fight against this disease, by opening new avenues for the treatment of various types of cancers.
NP: What are the objectives and current work of the researchers in Nice?
Jacques Raynaud: The highest grant, amounting to €360,000 over 3 years, the largest awarded by ARC in 2007, was granted to Dr. Thierry Virolle’s team, which works within the laboratory led by Professor Daniel Aberdam (INSERM unit 898). Dr. Virolle’s team is focusing on a brain tumor, in which cancer stem cells resistant to treatments are responsible for numerous relapses. Their work ultimately aims to identify new therapeutic targets and develop agents capable of specifically blocking cancer stem cells to eradicate them.
Dr. Fabienne Anjuère’s team (INSERM unit 721) obtained a grant of €25,000 over 12 months from ARC to advance in its work on developing a sublingual therapeutic vaccination against cancerous lesions of the cervix.
Dr. Emmanuel Lemichez’s team (INSERM unit 895, C3M Research Center) received a grant of €50,000 over 2 years to continue research aimed at better understanding the mechanism of action of certain bacterial toxins that inactivate cellular regulators and could play a role in tumor growth, the spread of cancer cells through the blood vessels (especially by opening large tunnels in the blood vessel walls), and consequently in the onset of metastases.
Dr. Kay-Dietrich Wagner’s team, from the INSERM U907 unit, received a €50,000 grant from ARC, over a period of 2 years. The research of this team aims to identify and then better understand the functioning of certain factors involved in the development of blood vessels around the tumor, which notably allow it to feed and spread within the body (metastases). This research ultimately aims to develop new treatment strategies that, by blocking this factor, prevent the tumor from vascularizing and thus from growing.
NP: Can you tell our readers about the next important dates for your association?
Jacques Raynaud: After our visit to Nice, we continue with grant presentations in other cities in France. We will be next on May 27 in Rennes.
And our next important date is our annual General Assembly, which will be held on June 18 in Paris, and will bring together our members.
NP: What exactly do you lack today and what do you need most?
Jacques Raynaud: The Association for Cancer Research (ARC) is today one of the leading private contributors to research in France. This research has significantly contributed to advancing the fight against cancer by providing researchers with essential support. The Association for Cancer Research provides an average of 28 million euros each year to support approximately 800 cancer research projects, representing more than 75% of the funds it receives.
This funding relies exclusively on the contributions of private donors, excluding any public subsidy. ARC thus always needs the active support of its donors to fund researchers, and the generosity of legators who agree to leave a legacy to the association.
ARC is now a vital link between the public’s generosity, which trusts in cancer research, and the researchers whose cutting-edge work could not be conducted without the sustained financial support of these donors. We hope that more and more individuals will join us in our cause and become donors to the association.
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