Organising Committee

The Cancer Research Centre of Lyon (CRCL, UMR Inserm 1052 CNRS 5286 Centre Léon Bérard, Direction Dr. Patrick Mehlen, Deputy Pr Charles Dumontet) is a research structure created in January 2011 affiliated to the Claude Bernard Lyon 1 University, Inserm, CNRS and the regional Léon Bérard Cancer Centre (CLB) and has a partnership with the HCL. The CRCL’s objectives are to create a centre of excellence in tumor biology in Lyon and participate in education and training in oncology. An important asset of the CRCL is the strong links established with clinical departments from the CLB and the HCL, fostering the transfer from basic research to medical applications. Currently, the CRCL is composed of 24 teams, organized into three scientific departments, with a total of 500 staff, including 150 permanent researchers. Research at the CRCL is structured around the notions that tumorigenesis and tumor development depend on the adaptation of cancer cells to and/or their escape mechanisms from biological constraints and onco-suppressive mechanisms they are subjected to. A shared objective is the characterization and validation of innovative therapeutic targets, designed to block the plasticity and adaptability of malignant cells, in order to restore the senescence, apoptosis and immune-surveillance programs. Beyond its own research programs, the CRCL has been a stepping-stone for the development of new structures in Lyon: the DEVweCAN LabEx (Dir. Patrick Mehlen), the LYRICAN (LYon Research Innovation against CANcer, Dir. Jean-Yves Blay) and the François Rabelais Institute for multidisciplinary research on cancer. The creation of these new structures, linked to both the hospitals and the CRCL, is an important element toward the implantation of a comprehensive cancer center in Lyon.