SIRIC: Montpellier's influence in cancer research

With the renewal of the SIRIC label - "SIte de Research Intégrée sur le Cancer" - awarded by the Institut National du Cancer to the consortium comprising the Institut du Cancer de Montpellier (ICM), Inserm, CNRS, Université Paul-Valéry - Montpellier 3 and Université de Montpellier, a third phase has begun for this project of excellence in cancer research in Montpellier. The project was presented at a press conference on Wednesday April 12.

Montpellier is a region of research and innovation, historically anchored in the field of biology and health. Within this highly stimulating ecosystem, the SIRIC Montpellier Cancer has been building up a research site over the last decade, integrating medical, scientific and societal research in oncology.

Renewal of the SIRIC label

Building on the success of their second label (2017), the Montpellier Cancer SIRIC teams have been awarded the prestigious SIRIC label for a further five years, following a competitive evaluation by an international jury.

Funding of 6 million euros over 5 years from INCa, Inserm and the Direction Générale de l'Offre de Soins (DGOS) will enable the Montpellier SIRIC to strengthen its actions around a new federative and ambitious project, which will bring together 20 research teams from 8 institutes affiliated to Inserm, CNRS, Université Paul-Valéry and Université de Montpellier, and 25 clinical teams from the two partner health establishments.

3 programs to transform clinical practices

The ambition of the SIRIC Montpellier Cancer is now to develop integrated research programs (PRI) around three central themes, for which Montpellier has unique medical and scientific assets, enabling it to develop research of excellence likely to transform clinical practices in the near future:

• PRIORITY " will develop world-class research aimed at optimizing internal and external radiotherapy treatments by combining a multimodal approach integrating tumor biology, radiobiology, dosimetry and next-generation imaging driven by Artificial Intelligence.

• The " PANACEA " PRI will draw on an original network of expertise in psychosocial and behavioral sciences, public health, supportive care and cancer biology to develop interventional research aimed at reducing the incidence of cancer and improving the outcome of cancer patients.

• The " ENERGY " PRI will establish a consortium of world-renowned medical and scientific leaders in the fields of metabolism, epigenetics and data modeling, to develop innovative therapeutic strategies based on a better understanding of metabolic alterations in cancer cells.

Through these programs, the Montpellier SIRIC aims to reaffirm its role as a catalyst for translational research and interdisciplinary collaborations between physicians, biologists, researchers in the social sciences and humanities, and scientists from a variety of fields, who are contributing to new ways of beating cancer. The transfer of scientific advances achieved by the SIRIC will be supported by an efficient local innovation ecosystem and a network of strategic partnerships with industry. Specific actions will enable the dissemination of new knowledge for the benefit of professionals, patients and the general public.

Finally, the SIRIC will take a further step towards health democracy by appointing a pair of patient coordinators whose role will be to develop the policy of promoting health democracy in research.