Associate Professor Ph.D Catherine Alix-Panabieres

The Laboratory 'Cellules Circulantes Rares Humaines ' (LCCRH) is located at the University Medical Center of Montpellier in France (University of Montpellier - UM) and is part of the Department of cellular & tissular biopathology of tumors. Dr Catherine Alix-Panabières is the Director of this unique platform LCCRH where they isolate, enrich, detect and characterize Circulating Tumor Cells (CTCs) in the peripheral blood and the bone marrow of patients with breast, prostate, colon, head & neck cancer and melanoma. They use their expertise in the EPISPOT assay, the CellSearch® system (Janssen), the AmpliSpeed device, the CellCollector (GILUPI) and the molecular biology for 15 years. Recently, they acquired a high tech DEPArray equipment (Silicon Biosystem, MSB) to increase the quality of the CTC isolation step at the single cell level. The EPISPOT has been patented in 2002 and is the only functional assay to detect viable CTCs with a clear clinical relevance (prognostic value) shown in patients with metastatic breast cancer, localized colon and prostate cancer.
Since 2010, Catherine A-P achieved getting a permanent position at the Hospital and at the Faculty of Medicine of the University Montpellier (MCU-PH), a wonderful mixture of giving teaching lessons to medical students on Cancer Biology in combination of developing this field of tumor cell dissemination at the hospital for the cancer patients, leading strongly translational clinical research. She has authored or co-authored >30 scientific publications in this field during the last 5 years including 10 book chapters.
After she got the Scientific Prize given by the Region Languedoc-Roussillon in 2008, it was a great honor for her to receive the Gallet et Breton 1rst Cancer Prize, the highest honor conferred by the French Academy of Medicine in November 2012.
Finally, the UM partner achieved to expand for the first time ex vivo colon CTCs in special conditions. All these technologies and expertise will be provided to the CANCER-ID consortium. The LCCRH works in a close and dynamic collaboration with Participant No 1 in Hamburg for 7 years and they published many scientific articles together.