Project details

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death worldwide, with a five-year survival rate of less than 15 per cent. In recent years, check point immunotherapies have made remarkable breakthrough in restoring anti-tumour immunity, and have brought clinical benefits to many cancers. Unfortunately, about 80 per cent of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients do not respond to this therapy. Mechanisms of resistance to immunotherapy include tumour intrinsic and extrinsic factors mediated by the tumour microenvironment. 

This project aims to characterise the interactions between immune cells and tumour cells in NSCLC to understand resistance mechanisms and propose new targets for the development of therapy. 

The project will combine single cell profiling and in situ imaging analysis with genetic studies in preclinical models of NSCLC and in clinical samples.

About our research group

The Asselin-Labat laboratory is interested in studying the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying lung development, lung cancer formation and therapeutic response. We combine our expertise in lung stem cells and lung cancer to decipher pathways disrupted in lung disease. We take a multi-disciplinary approach to research and collaborate closely with immunologists, computational biologists, respiratory physicians and medical oncologists.