Project description
Cancer evolution through the lens of transmissible cancers
Transmissible cancers are cancers that can spread through populations by the transfer of living cancer cells between animals. While only three such cancers are known in terrestrial animals, marine bivalves (including clams, mussels and cockles) are affected by at least 10 separate transmissible cancers, which are spread via waterborne transfer of cancer cells. The ERC-funded CellFish project aims to investigate the origins and evolution of marine transmissible cancers through a large-scale comparative genomic study, leveraging extensive tumour sampling across continents and technologies such as laser microdissection and high-performance computing. As some transmissible cancers can survive for thousands of years, they provide a unique opportunity to study cancer biology and evolution, as well as the mechanisms and consequences of genomic instability.
Objective
Cancers are proliferative outgrowths of abnormal cells driven by a selfish evolutionary programme. Most cancers arise from and remain within the bodies of their respective host individuals. Rarely, however, cancers may escape their hosts to become ‘transmissible cancers’, infectious cell lineages that spread between individuals by direct transfer of cancer cells. As parasitic cancers capable of surviving for millennia, transmissible cancers offer a unique model for exploring how mutation, selection and cellular processes mould and constrain selfish tumour evolution.
Marine bivalves (shellfish including clams, mussels and cockles) are affected by at least 10 transmissible cancers, which spread via waterborne cell transfer. The recurrent emergence of long-lived cancers in shellfish provides a valuable resource for comparative studies aiming to probe the basic mechanisms of tumour evolution, including extreme genomic instability. Yet, the evolutionary histories of these cancers are poorly understood.
My vision is to elucidate the origins and evolution of marine transmissible cancers by conducting a large-scale comparative genomic study of these cancers. My aims are to:
1. Understand how transmissible cancers arise, mutate and spread under the sea
2. Identify the mechanisms and consequences of genomic instability in transmissible cancers.
My research approach will involve:
- Extensive tumour sampling across continents
- Generation of high-quality bivalve genome assemblies
- Application of state-of-the-art technologies, including laser microdissection and single-cell sequencing, to hundreds of tumours
- Development of specialised methods for comparative cancer genome analysis.
The intrinsic heterogeneity and short lifespans of most cancers may obscure their underlying biological patterns. By examining the convergent evolution of 10 long-lived cancers through a comparative-genomics lens, I intend to deliver fundamental insights into cancer biology and evolution.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
This project's classification has been human-validated.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
This project's classification has been human-validated.
Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC)
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Topic(s)
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Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
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Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC Grants
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Call for proposal
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Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2024-STG
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CB2 1TN CAMBRIDGE
United Kingdom
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