Sarcomas are cancers of the body’s support or conjunctive tissues: bone, cartilage, fat, skin, vessels, muscles, etc. Although these cancers are rare (1% of cancers), they are both complex and varied. There are more than 50 different molecular types and 150 subtypes. Adults and children can be affected by sarcomas.

Cellular senescence is the stable arrest of cellular proliferation, causing a structured response (activation of the immune system and reorganisation of the microenvironment). The mechanism of senescence halts the initiation and progression of cancer.

Chaining of 4 molecules (nucleotides: Adenine, Cytosine, Guanine and Thymine) which compose the DNA code.

See also, sequencing, Sequencing the human genome, Cancer genome sequencing – the ICGC program

This means sequencing the succession of nucleotides (ATGC) composing a given fragment of DNA.

See also : sequence, Sequencing the human genome, Cancer genome sequencing – the ICGC program

At the beginning of the 1990s, the international scientific community launched a flagship genetics project of exceptional magnitude in view to sequencing the complete human genome, i.e. the equivalent in number of characters of 2,000 books each containing 500 pages. Twenty institutions around the world grouped into an international consortium and shared the work involved.

In 2004, 14 years later and three billion base pairs of human DNA sequenced, these works performed in collaboration at international scale resulted in the sequenced version of the human genome complete and precise to within 99.99%. This "catalogue" is now freely available to the researchers of the entire world.

The progress accomplished in sequencing during the 1990s, and the renewed financial support received from supervisory institutions and philanthropic actions made it possible to achieve this goal two years ahead of the date initially scheduled.

See also : sequence, sequencing, Cancer genome sequencing – the ICGC program

Serum is the liquid fraction of whole blood that is collected after the blood is allowed to clot. The clot is removed by centrifugation and the resulting supernatant is called serum.

Setting up SIRICs is part of measure 1 of the Cancer Plan 2009-2013 aimed at “strengthening the resources of multidisciplinary research”. The SIRICs are intended to provide new operational conditions for cancer research, in view to optimising and accelerating the production of new knowledge and promoting its diffusion and application in the combat against cancer.

A SIRIC is responsible for grouping around a single site medical services and multidisciplinary research teams (covering clinical medicine, biology, technology, epidemiology, human sciences, economics, social sciences and public health).  Efficient resources and common services must also participate in carrying out research programs in integrated mode, an organisational mode based on breaking the separation between research and healthcare and on ensuring rapid access to therapeutic innovation.

"Soft” tissues are the components of the body that connect, support or surround the organs but which do not belong to the skeleton (which is composed of hard bony tissue). They are in particular adipose tissue, muscles (the muscles of the skeleton like the biceps and smooth muscles like the uterus), the tendons, blood vessels and nerves. The term is used to define a category of sarcomas, i.e. “soft tissue sarcomas”.

The spinal cord is part of the central nervous system: it should not be confused with bone marrow, which produces blood cells. It is located in the spinal column and takes the form of a cord stretching from the brain stem to the lumbar vertebrae and from which nerves branch out. The spinal cord transmits nerve impulses (motor and sensory information) between the brain and the body, and ensures certain reflexes. 

DNA is a molecule formed by a two strands (chains) coiled around each other, 2nm in diameter. Thus DNA takes the form of a “double helix”. These antiparallel strands (taking opposing directions) wind around each other like the threads of a screw, and are joined by “bonds”.

Since the genetic information is duplicated on each of the two strands, a damaged strand can be repaired by a corresponding strand that has remained intact. However, defective repair or the failure to repair a damaged strand leads to the death of the cell or to rearrangements liable to cause cancers.

The stroma is a synonym for the extra-cellular environment.

It is present in normal and cancerous tissues.

Cancerous tissue comprises two components: cancerous cells and the stroma.

The stroma is non-cancerous tissue present in all types of invasive cancers (except leukaemia). It is composed of everything present within a cancer and is not a cancer cell. The stroma therefore includes conjunctive tissue, vessels, leucocytes and the extra-cellular matrix.

The stroma serves as a frame for the cancer and provides it with nutrients. It is dependent on the cancer tissue whose cells can, for example, form substances that promote the growth of vessels.

Many interactions occur between cancer cells and the stroma, playing an important role in cancer invasion and dissemination phenomena.

(or systems biology or integrative biology)

The aim of systemic biology is to study and understand the fundamental rules that govern the global and dynamic functioning of a cell. It focuses on groups of elements in interaction with each other (DNA, proteins, molecular complexes, supramolecular architectures, small molecules, etc.).

Standards and models for biology

Over the past few decades, the  sequencing of complete human genomes has generated an increasingly voluminous mass of experimental data stemming from different sources. These data are by nature very different and provide detailed information on the individual components of a cell but not enough to understand the dynamics of a living cell.

Dynamic interactions

The different collaborations between different teams represent a major advantage in this approach. The main aim is to benefit from competences in applied mathematics and automation to build dynamic models of the complex interacting networks that are omnipresent in cellular biology.

What contribution does systems biology make to medical research?

Systems biology uses mathematical modelling to understand how biological systems function, communicate and connect with each other. This discipline is used in particular to treat cancers.

Systems biology permits taking the biological context into account in the drug development process more rapidly. Its purpose is to understand how the modification of the environment (pollution, lifestyle, diet, etc.) influences metabolic pathways. It therefore leads to better understanding of the disease. It also allows better identification of the real mode of action of a drug through the analysis of every level of organisation involved in the system, by modifying all the possible parameters.

Thus medical research from traditional molecular biology – reductionist by nature, mainly focused on the characterisation of the individual components of the cell – to systemic biology, which emphases the global rather than the individual importance of components.