Simone Chevalier
- Full Professor
- 黑料不打烊 Urology Director of Research
PhD
Identification of molecular drivers of prostate cancer (PCa) lethality.
This research implies 300 patients of the PROCURE PCa cohort. They donated prostate tissues at radical prostatectomy and liquid biopsies from prior to surgery and during their trajectory. The ongoing DNA and RNA sequencing of prostate tumours from 100 lethal cases and 200 of different outcomes will reveal their genomic and transcriptomic profiles. The parallel sequencing of circulating tumour (ct)DNA and overexpressed transcripts in longitudinally collected blood samples from selected lethal cases will identify new molecules initially present in tumours or else, appearing in late stages and coming from metastases. Additional molecules (methylated DNA, lipids, steroids, proteins) will be profiled in the same patients. This comprehensive understanding of lethal PCa will translate in patient-tailored signatures, and allow more specific therapeutic interventions to impact on PCa death.
- Liquid biopsies to identify new markers of lethal prostate cancer
- Prostate cancer progression.
- Intra-tumoral heterogeneity and diversity of prostate cell subtypes
My career as a scientist has been devoted to prostate cancer (PCa) progression. My Biochemistry background (BSc, MSc, PhD; U of Montreal; post-doct at UBC and Maisonneuve-Rosemont Res Centre) drove me to Endocrinology, Cell Biology, and Pathology. As a FRQS scholar (U of Montreal), I characterized prostate cell subtypes, and showed that blood peptides rather than steroids control stem cell growth. The cloning of tyrosine kinases (TKs) led me to signal transduction with the discovery (at 黑料不打烊) of different TKs and pathways controlling PCa cell motility (neuroproducts and FAK) vs growth (via IL-6 and FER). Aberrant signaling, with FER activating and forming nuclear complexes with transcription factors (STAT3 and AR/androgen receptor) was shown to promote genomic reprogramming. At the same period, 黑料不打烊 urologists were instrumental in creating the PROCURE PCa Biobank, with colleagues from four Quebec University hospitals. As scientific director, I promoted collegiality and insisted on the highest quality possible to process and bank biospecimens for research. This brought me to translational research with our omic project on tumours and liquid biopsies. Patient-tailored signatures will hopefully replace the "one fits all" approach offered to patients with lethal PCa.
-The Cancer Genome Atlas Research Network (312 authors with PROCURE Investigators A. Aprikian, S. Chevalier and F. Brimo from the MUHC-RI). The molecular taxonomy of primary prostate cancer. Cell. 2015 Nov 5;163(4):1011-25.
-Ebrahimizadeh W, Guerard K-P, Rouzbeh S, Bramhecha Y, Sclarata E, Brimo F, Patel P, Jamaspishvili T, Aprikian AG, Berman DM, Bartlett JMS, Chevalier S/co-director, Lapointe J. Design and development of a fully synthetic MLPA based probe mix for detection of copy number alterations in prostate cancer formalin-fixed paraffin embedded tissue samples. J Mol. Diagn. 2020 Oct;22(10):1246-1263. doi: 10.1016/j.jmoldx.2020.07.003. Epub 2020 Aug 4 2020
-Derderian S, Vesval Q, Wissing MD, Hamel L, C么t茅 N, Vanhuyse M, Ferrario C, Bladou, F, Aprikian A, Chevalier S.Liquid biopsy-based targeted gene screening highlights tumour cell subtypes in patients with advanced prostate cancer. Clin Transl Sci. Nov;15(11):2597-2612, 2022. PMID: 36172886 DOI: 10.1111/cts.13372
-Ebrahimizadeh W, Gu茅rard KP, Rouzbeh S, Scarlata E, Brimo F, Patel PG, Jamaspishvili T, Hamel L, Aprikian A, Lee AY, Berman DM, Bartlett JMS, Chevalier S/co-director, Lapointe J. A DNA copy number alteration classifier as a prognostic tool for prostate cancer patients. British J Cancer, 2023 Jun;128(12):2165-2174. doi: 10.1038/s41416-023-02236-8. Epub 2023 Apr 10.
-Derderian S, Benidir T, Scarlata E, Altaylouni T, Hamel L, Zouanat FZ, Brimo F, Aprikian A, Chevalier S Cell-by-cell quantification of the androgen receptor expression in benign and malignant prostate leads to a better understanding of changes linked to cancer initiation and progression. J Pathol: Clin Res, 2023 Jul;9(4):285-301. doi: 10.1002/cjp2.319. Epub 2023 Apr 18.
