The recent development of high-throughput sequencing, single cell technologies and high-resolution imaging revealed that tumours are highly complex ecosystems, in which cancer cells and normal cells are coexisting, competing or cooperating. The resulting equilibrium is responsible for cancer fate, and therefore, patient outcome.

The objective of this project is to study the network of cellular and molecular events driving tumour progression in the most common and deadly solid cancers – breast cancer, gastrointestinal cancer and pancreatic cancer. We will focus on the heterogeneity of aggressive tumours and use the cellular barcoding technology to identify the unique properties of cancer clones able to successfully coerce the tumour microenvironment (TME) in metastatic sites. We will also study the heterogeneity of the surrounding tissues, and how targeting the TME can also impact cancer clonality. We bring together complimentary cancer models (transgenic models, patient-derived xenografts and patient samples), and state-of-the-art technologies (including single cell sequencing, ATAC-seq, 3D imaging and cellular barcoding).

By identifying new targets to disrupt these cancer ecosystems and studying the impact of newly developed drugs on cancer clones and surrounding normal cells, we will develop new combinational therapies to prevent and treat metastasis.