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Diagnostic and Theranostic Medicine Division
Pre Anne Vincent-Salomon
Le pôle de Médecine diagnostique et théranostique rassemble les services de pathologie de l’Institut Curie (Paris et Saint-Cloud), le service de génétique, le laboratoire d’immunologie clinique, les unités de dépôts de sang, la réception centralisée des prélèvements, la pharmacologie et de bio-informatique clinique.
The main missions of the division are :
Treatment
- carry out the anatomical and pathological analysis of tissue samples (biopsies, operating parts, cytological punctures, etc.) of patients treated at Institut Curie or at its partner institutions to establish the diagnosis, specify the prognosis of cancers, and identify possible treatment targets by means of histological and molecular analyzes
- receive and analyze the blood of patients in clinical immunology in order to identify the patients most likely to receive immunotherapy, monitor their treatment, and identify biomarkers to predict their clinical response in terms of efficacy and toxicity;
- identify cancer predisposition syndromes to allow optimal personalized management of each patient with a clinical genetics unit within the Genetics and Developmental Biology Unit, which provides oncogenetics consultations and follow-up for predisposed individuals at the Paris and Saint-Cloud sites. The molecular predisposition tests are carried out by the laboratory of the Genetics and Developmental Biology Unit.
- ensure therapeutic pharmacological monitoring, in particular DPD phenotyping.
Test catalog
We at Institut Curie carry out analyzes not only for our patients, but also for external patients, in particular, molecular and pathology analyzes as part of an expert opinion (second opinion).
Research and Innovation
The doctors and biologists of the division participate or lead numerous clinical and translational research projects. The center for biological resources and experimental pathology procedures located in the pathology unit in Paris, as well as the clinical immunology laboratory, are essential platforms for institutional research projects and for partnership with other institutions and manufacturers.
TeachingÂ
Many doctors and geneticists are responsible for or participate in many university and post-university courses on pathological anatomy and cytology, genetics, and immunology. The division welcomes many residents, medical students, and master 2 or science thesis students.
Testing procedure
The diagnosis of cancer is based on the analysis of tumor tissue obtained by biopsy or from a surgical specimen. This analysis considers the patient’s clinical history, the treatments received, the risk factors and the anatomical context of the disease. Since September 2022, the entire diagnostic activity of the two pathology departments has been completely digitized. The diagnosis is essential before any decision regarding treatment can be made. At the crossroads of the clinic, biology and imaging, the pathological anatomy and cytology procedure is a diagnostic examination based, among other things, on morphological, macroscopic and microscopic observation, coupled with complementary immunohistochemical, in situ hybridization and molecular analyses of tumor tissue, and also on circulating tumor DNA. This integrated morphological analysis allows for definition of prognosis and identification of treatment targets.
The diagnosis of predisposition to cancer is based on both the consultation of patients, during which the geneticist establishes their personal and family history, and the analysis of the sequence of genes predisposing to cancer, through massive parallel sequencing approaches.
Even though immunotherapy treatments have revolutionized cancer patient care, they sometimes come with significant costs and toxicity. The clinical immunology laboratory then carries out tests to better target the patients who are most likely to benefit from immunotherapy treatment, as well as to identify biomarkers to predict their effectiveness and/or toxicity.
The Diagnostic and Theranostic Medicine Division: the foundation of precision medicine
Today therapeutic decision-making with regard to cancer is based on the diagnosis of cancer, the clinical context, prognostic factors, and increasingly on the identification of theranostic markers predictive of response or resistance to targeted therapies. This activity involves a concerted work between geneticists, immunologists and pathologists. Pathologists and geneticists play an active part in the multidisciplinary consultation meetings (RCPs) and, in particular, molecular RCPs in-house or with other centers for clinical trials.
Innovation plays an important role in this division, helping provide patients with the benefit of the latest analysis techniques in digital pathology with the help of artificial intelligence tools for breast and prostate cancer diagnosis, genomic anomalies present in tumors, and the identification of predictive markers of the effectiveness of therapies or in the patient's constitutional or circulating DNA.
The strength of the Diagnostic and Theranostic Medicine Division of Institut Curie is the synergistic presence of expertise in pathology, genomics, immunology and clinical bioinformatics, as well as its close links with the Research Center in each flagship specialty of the hospital (senology, ophthalmology, pediatrics, gynecology, soft tissue sarcomas, uro-oncology, etc.).
This link with research is what makes us unique and enables us to implement efficient technological monitoring and numerous research projects.