A key challenge in clinical oncology is the identification of sensitive and specific biomarkers for early detection, prognostic evaluation, and surveillance for recurrence. As sample materials for clinical purpose should be easily accessible by minimally invasive procedures, the analysis of nucleic acid markers in the blood of patients with cancer should provide useful tools for diagnostic developments. Nevertheless, the precise nature of circulating free-DNA (CFDNA) and its real value as a clinical tool remain to be determined. The goals of the CirBioCancer program are to develop an integrated network aimed at evaluating the range of genetic alterations detectable in plasma DNA and amenable to development as clinical biomarkers. Considering the heterogeneous nature of malignant diseases, it is unlikely that a single genetic alteration will provide the sensitivity and specificity required for disease detection and prognosis. The global genomic analysis of CFDNA will be a first step towards the identification of combinations of genomic patterns characteristic of a given disease phenotype, that will be tested in specific studies to assess their clinical potential as biomarkers.

Four types of solid cancers will be studied (breast carcinomas; liver carcinomas; lung carcinomas; and neuroblastomas), in close dependence with the basic and clinical interests of the teams participating to the program. CirBioCancer is implemented in partnership by hospital laboratories (Molecular Oncology Unit at Léon Bérard Comprehensive Cancer Centre (CLB); Department of Pathology of CLB; Department of Pathology CHU Grenoble); academic research teams (Group of Mechanisms of Carcinogenesis and Biomarkers, International Agency for Cancer Research; INSERM Unit 590; Laboratory of Molecular Pathology, Institut de Pathologie de Lausanne); and a technological platform (ProfileXpert), in the framework of the Cancéropôle Lyon Auvergne Rhône Alpes.