JOINT MRC/ICEP
SPECIAL SEMINAR

 Tuesday, 25th July, 2017
12.00 – 13.00 - Room OS6 (TBC) – Oakfield House

 Dr Marc Gunter
Head, Section of Nutrition and Metabolism
International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC)

 “Metabolic Dysfunction and Cancer: Molecular Epidemiologic Approaches”

 

Abstract

Adiposity and Type 2 diabetes are established positive risk factors for a growing number of malignancies including cancers of the colorectum, gallbladder, pancreas, endometrium, postmenopausal breast, thyroid, hepatocellular and renal cell carcinoma and oesophageal adenocarcinoma. Obesity is associated with significant metabolic and endocrine abnormalities including alterations in sex hormone metabolism, insulin signalling, and adipokines/inflammatory pathways. All three mechanisms influence the balance between cell proliferation and apoptosis and have been linked to cancer development in both experimental and observational studies. However, it is likely that other, hitherto unrecognised molecular pathways may mediate the adiposity-cancer association. In this presentation I will discuss new molecular epidemiologic approaches to understanding the link between obesity, metabolic dysfunction and cancer, highlighting our ongoing work that exploits metabolomics, genomic and epigenetic tools within the framework of prospective cohort studies, randomized controlled trials and clinical case series.

Biography

Marc Gunter is Head of the Section of Nutrition and Metabolism at the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), the specialized cancer research agency of the World Health Organization.

Dr Gunter holds a Ph.D in molecular epidemiology from the University of Cambridge and a degree in biochemistry from the University of Oxford. He completed his postdoctoral training at the U.S National Cancer Institute and has held faculty positions at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York and Imperial College London. His research focuses on the role of nutrition and obesity in the natural history of cancer with an emphasis on metabolic dysfunction and in particular the insulin/IGF/mTOR pathway.

Dr Gunter is principal investigator of a number of studies applying high dimensional metabolic profiling within the framework of large prospective and clinical cohorts to identify novel biochemical pathways involved in cancer development and prognosis. Recent publications include investigations of obesity subtypes defined by metabolic measurements in relation to breast and colorectal cancer risk, adipose tissue-derived factors and breast cancer and the role of endogenous estrogens in colorectal cancer development..

 

 

ALL WELCOME