PhD Defence Lydie Marie Odette Barbeau

Keywords: Autophagy, cancer, biomarkers, personalized treatment 
 

"Harnessing autophagy in cancer: Leveraging biomarkers to improve personalized therapy and treatment efficacy"

Despite advancements in multi-omic technologies and new therapies, cancer remains a leading cause of death due to tumor complexity and resistance mechanisms, including therapy resistance resulting from insufficient oxygen (hypoxia). Autophagy, a cell survival process, initially prevents tumor growth but later supports cancer progression by promoting cell proliferation, immune evasion, and survival during hypoxia.

This research focused on the identification of predictive biomarkers that determine autophagy dependence to stratify patients for autophagy inhibition in future clinical trials. Several environmental, genomic, and phenotypic alterations across various cancers were highlighted that characterize autophagy dependence. Additionally, an autophagy-related protein was shown to predict immune system recognition.
 

These findings emphasize the importance of biomarker-driven approaches to refine cancer treatments, enhance precision medicine, and support the use of autophagy inhibitors for improved therapeutic responses.

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