The PACMINE project is selected for the Toulouse Cancer Health Foundation’s call for funds

The PACMINE project, led by Julie Guillermet-Guibert, Research Officer at the CRCT (Toulouse Cancer Research Centre), and Elisa Boutet-Robinet, Researcher at Toxalim and Teacher at the Toulouse Faculty of Pharmacy, is the subject of a fundraising campaign organised by the Toulouse Cancer Health Foundation.

Pancreatic cancer will probably be the third leading cause of cancer-related death by 2030. Its incidence is constantly increasing and it is essential to understand how this cancer is triggered in order to stop this massive and recent increase. The PACMINE project aims to study two types of factors that may contribute to the development of this cancer: intrinsic factors (genetic factors) and extrinsic factors (tissue microenvironment, also known as niche, and exposure to toxic factors). Since the genetic alterations that cause pancreatic cancer development occur in a subpopulation of pancreatic cells (certain exocrine acinar cells), it is essential to have suitable cell models that reproduce the cellular organisation of the pancreas. To this end, we are developing innovative cellular models based on a three-dimensional bioprinting technology in collaboration with the Inserm ART Biotis platform in Bordeaux.

Our objective is to understand how the modification of the pancreatic tissue (niche) and its mitochondrial metabolic activity following exposure to environmental contaminants could trigger the initiation of pancreatic cancer.
Ultimately, our data should help to demonstrate whether or not environmental contaminants are involved in the observed increased incidence. If the answer is yes, new prevention strategies should be proposed.​