Science at UM [S01-ep10]: From Circulating Tumor Cells to Robots Inspired by Climbing Plants

[Podcast] - Published on February 7, 2022 in Science and Society

This week, Catherine Alix Panabières, head of the laboratory Human Rare Circulating Cells , tells us all about liquid biopsy, a new therapeutic tool for better preventing and treating cancer. In the second half of the program, Nick Rowe from the Laboratory of Botany and Modeling of Plant and Vegetation Architecture.

Lung, prostate, breast, colon, bone… Few people do not have a loved one with cancer, if they are not affected themselves. According tothe National Cancer Institute, 382,000 new cases were diagnosed in mainland France in 2018. Of these, 58,000 were breast cancer cases alone—the deadliest form of cancer for women aged 35 to 65. One in eight women will face it at some point in her life. These numbers have been rising steadily for the past 30 years.

This is an alarming—even pessimistic—observation, but fortunately, science and its discoveries are beginning to shed some light on the matter. Among all the avenues that science is helping to open up, one is particularly promising: CTCs, or circulating tumor cells. These cells, by “carrying” the cancer through our bloodstream, also provide valuable insights into the disease’s potential progression and the best treatments to pursue.

In 2020, a study conducted at Montpellier University Hospital demonstrated, for the first time worldwide, the clinical utility of CTCs in selecting a treatment for metastatic breast cancer. Catherine Alix-Panabières, our guest today, is the director of the Human Rare Circulating Cells Laboratory at Montpellier University Hospital. She has been working on this topic for over 20 years and has revolutionized the approach by inventing the concept of liquid biopsy. Her work is recognized worldwide, as evidenced by the numerous awards she has received throughout her career.

Read:

In the second half of the program, we’ll take you to the AMAP laboratory, which focuses on botany and the modeling of plant and vegetation architecture, and your guide is Nick Rowe. He’ll show us around the histology and biomechanics lab and explain how climbing plants can inspire the creation of new robots. This research is part of a European project called GrowBot.

At UM Science, you’ve got the program—let’s get started!

Co-production: Divergence FM / University of Montpellier
Host: Lucie Lecherbonnier
Interview: Aline Périault / Lucie Lecherbonnier
Production: Anna Demeulandre

Tune in to the show “A l’UM la science” on Divergence FM 93.9