Endocrine tumors cause morbidity due to tumor growth on one side and hormone excess on the other side. There is a variety of tumors according to malignant potential and secretory characteristics and they are very informative models to understand both endocrine gland physiology, hormonal secretion dysregulation and tumorigenesis.
The strategy of the Genomics and Signaling of Endocrine Tumors team is based on strong connections with expert clinical teams in endocrine tumors management to benefit from unique high quality clinical samples as a starting point of many of our researches.
We aim to 1) identify molecular alterations from clinical samples of patient with endocrine tumors to develop new diagnostic tools based on their molecular classification 2) better understand the pathophysiology of endocrine tumors using cellular and mice models to unravel signaling alterations in therapeutic perspectives.
Using integrated genomics approaches of endocrine tumors we identify specific genetic and epigenetic alterations that can be used as molecular diagnostic markers. Moreover, the candidate genes and signaling pathways responsible of adrenocortical tumors development or hormone synthesis and secretion are then investigated by combining in vitro and in vivo approaches. Indeed, we develop cellular and mice models reproducing molecular alterations identified in patients in order to understand their role on adrenal differentiation, tumor growth and hormone dysregulation, with the ultimate goal of identifying therapeutic targets.
These researches are developed in close collaborations with various clinical team of the teaching hospital GHU Paris Université Centre as well as national and European networks for the study and care of adrenal tumors.