In the PEDIAC consortium, along with several teams, the group will focus on the characterization of ontogenic determinants of pediatric oncogene specificities. More specifically, they will use experimental models to characterize the cellular and molecular impact of changes observed during different stages of ontogeny on  medulloblastoma formation.

Under the leadership of Pr. Jean-Yves Blay and Dr V. Maguer-Satta, the objective of the “Oncopediatric Research” team of the Centre Léon Bérard is to promote  an integrative approach to the question of childhood cancers, by bringing together the expertise of basic researchers (Dr V. Maguer-Satta, Dr M Castets, Dr L Broutier, Dr A Dutour, Dr S Lefort), with that of clinicians, epidemiologists and specialists in exposology (Pr B Fervers, Dr N Corradini).

A large part of the team’s research is devoted to research on childhood cancer risk factors , based on case-control studies with interviews of case and control parents and DNA bank, and on studies using geolocated data. The studies target environmental factors (exposure to pesticides, pollution linked to road traffic and ionizing radiation in particular), infectious and immune factors, perinatal factors, and factors linked to lifestyle (type of childcare, maternal consumption during pregnancy). They have produced nearly a hundred and fifty international publications.

The “Radiation Epidemiology” Team of U1018 is a team specialized in the epidemiological of ionizing radiation and in the risk factors of secondary cancers . The team focuses most of its activity on the epidemiological and molecular-epidemiological (biomarkers research) evaluation of the health effects of radiation as well as on all the aspects of cancer survivorship. This activity includes the constitution and the follow-up of cohorts of former patients, as well the realization of case-control studies in general population.

The Epigenomics and Mechanisms branch at IARC (headed by Dr Z. Herceg) has a long-standing interest in understanding the origins and causes of childhood cancer. An important emphasis of the team has been on studies aimed at understanding  molecular precursors of cancers in children by investigating epigenetic changes  associated with risk factors and identifying epigenetic biomarkers for cancer risk stratification and early detection.

The research carried out at Institut Curie by Isabelle Janoueix-Lerosey focuses on neuroblastoma , a cancer of young children that develops from the sympathetic ganglia and the adrenal gland. The survival of children with high-risk forms still remains below 40%. Neuroblastoma occurs mainly sporadically, however some tumors are observed in a familial or syndromic context.

The team of Sylvain Latour is internationally recognized in the field of primary immunodeficiencies . The team has developed over the years a strong expertise in the identification and characterization of inherited monogenic immune deficiencies associated with a high susceptibility to Epstein Barr virus (EBV) infection and EBV-driven B cell lymphomas, which are mostly childhood diseases.

Thomas Mercher leads the “Biology of Pediatric Leukemia” team within INSERM U1170 located at the Gustave Roussy Institute. The team has expertise in  pediatric acute megakaryoblastic leukemia (AMKL). The team has contributed to the identification of several genetic alterations found in AMKL, including mutations in signaling factors (e.g. JAK family tyrosine kinase mutations) and factors regulating gene transcription (e.g. oncogenic OTT-MAL and ETO2-GLIS2 fusions).

The team focuses its current work on pediatric brain tumors, mainly medulloblastoma  (MB) a pediatric tumor of the cerebellum, but also, thanks to collaborations, on other CNS (central nervous system) pediatric tumors including AT/RT  (Collaboration F. Bourdeaut) and retinoblastoma (F. Radvanyi).

The team led by Joachim Schüz contributes with expertise in cancer epidemiology , in particular on environmental, occupational, radiation and lifestyle related causes from the Environment and Lifestyle Epidemiology Branch at the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC/WHO), headed by J Schüz. The team has been involved in epidemiological projects around the world, mainly within the Childhood Cancer and Leukemia International Consortium (CLIC) – a consortium pooling more 20 case-control studies from around the world – and the Global Acute Leukaemia network (GALnet) – a multi-disciplinary consortium of researchers and pediatric oncologies of 4-5 countries per continent.