Take part in colorectal cancer (CRC) research

Did you know that CRC patients can help cancer research by authorizing sample collection?

The main reason to participate is to help researchers better understand the disease and find better treatments . Participants should not expect an immediate benefit from the study; however, your participation is extremely important because you will provide key information to advance research on colorectal cancer which in the long run will benefit CRC patients.

Participation is, of course, voluntary and it mostly consists in collecting a sample of the tumor tissues excised as a part of the standard clinical procedure.

If you are interested to help, please ask your doctor about the sample collection project.

About the colorectal cancer collection

The colorectal cancer collection, initiated in 2010, is a joint effort, involving oncologists and surgeons from the Centre Hospitalier Emile Mayrisch (CHEM), the Center Hospitalier Luxembourgeois (CHL), the Robert Schuman hospitals (HRS), and the Center Hospitalier du Nord (CHdN), nurses from theClinical and Epidemiological Investigation Center at LIH, pathologists fromthe LNS as well as collection managers atthe IBBL and researchers atthe University of Luxembourg. Of note, the collection contains tumor tissues as well as normal counterparts from the same patients and different other collection samples such as blood and stool samples. For all patient samples, the clinical information, as well as the molecular data belonging to them, is accessible. This allows studying clinical parameters, ultimately leading to potential interesting translational findings. Importantly, all these samples can be shared within the research community in Luxembourg and abroad and feed additional colorectal cancer studies and fruitful collaborations.
The collection has currently 180 patients enrolled and almost 4000 samples collected. As we collect the tumor cells as well as the different cells of the tumor microenvironment, we can generate “mini tumors” in the lab (also called organoids) which nicely recapitulate the original tumor and which foster personalized medicine.

Funding: Fondation cancer, FNR and UniLu

About colorectal cancer

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most common and lethal malignancies in Western countries. It is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in Europe and the second most common cause of cancer death. In Luxembourg, colorectal cancer is the second most common cancer (National Cancer Registry). Importantly, an increase in CRC incidence in young adults (individuals below 50 years of age) has been observed in different parts of the world, such as the USA and Australia.

The high incidence and mortality rates emphasize the need for prevention and early diagnosis. Efficient treatments are still missing for advanced CRC patients with chemotherapy being the standard strategy. There is therefore an urgent need to identify novel therapeutic intervention points for CRC patients.

Awareness of the target population of colorectal cancer and screening is crucial in order to increase screening participation rates. In Luxembourg, a national colorectal cancer screening program is open for men and women between 55 and 74 years old who are invited by mail to participate every two years.

The Molecular Disease Mechanisms Group (MDM) of the Department of Life Sciences and Medicine (UL), led by Prof. E. Letellier and Prof. S. Haan, has a profound interest in dissecting the molecular mechanisms involved in the development of CRC as well as in the different drug resistance mechanisms by focusing on the metabolic changes in tumor cells and in the cells of the microenvironment (stromal cells and microbio

Our ongoing research projects

Biomarkers for CRC: We have identified promising biomarkers with a strong prognostic value in early CRC stages. One of our recently identified biomarkers has led to the filing of a patent on novel biomarkers for cancer diagnosis, prediction, or staging. We are currently aiming at translating this biomarker into the clinical setting.

Supported by: FNR Proof of Concept Study (MyoRPROG) and Foundation Vera Nijs&Jens Eric Rosborg

PI: Elisabeth Letellier

Microbiome and CRC: It has been shown that dysbiosis, a state of pathological imbalance in the microbiome, is present in patients suffering from colorectal cancer. Accordingly, several microbiome studies identified specific bacteria being associated with CRC. Nevertheless, the role of bacteria in the etiology of the disease remains unknown. In this project, we aim at studying CRC-associated bacteria, their role in colon cancer tumor initiation and progression and the influence of diet on these processes.

Supported by: FNR PRIDE MICROH Doctoral Training Unit project, FNR CORE MICROH-CRC and FNR BRIDGES

PI: Elisabeth Letellier

Contribution of the tumor microenviroment to disease progression and therapy resisatnce: The tumor microenvironment has been shown to play an important role in tumor development, especially in cancer initiation and metastasis. Amongst all the various microenvironmental players, cancer associated fibroblasts (CAFs) have been suggested to play a key role in tumor development. Within this project, we study the role of CAFs in CRC and in therapy resistance.

Supported by: FNR PRIDE Doctoral Training Unit project (CANBIO and CORE)

PI: Elisabeth Letellier and Serge Haan

Personalized drug treatments for CRC patients: In close collaboration with the Disease Modeling and Screening Platform (DMSP, collaboration between UL and LIH), we are in the process of establishing robotic pipelines in order to be able to do high-throughput drug screening. The ultimate goal of this study is to test different drugs on the patient’s primary tumors and to report this result to the clinician so that he can orient himself towards new therapies in the event of therapeutic failure of the basic treatments.

Supported by: FNR (MelColPFP), Fondation Marie Jeanne & Edmond Schumacher and FNR i2TRON DTU

PI: Elisabeth Letellier