The Optimisticc team is supported through the Cancer Grand Challenges initiative. Learn more here
The Optimisticc team is supported through the Cancer Grand Challenges initiative. Learn more here
It was in 2002-03 Christmas time when I suffered continuous gastrointestinal troubles. I’m a psychologist, a professional who, at that time, was very busy and, threatened by the idea of suffering cancer, I used to say that I did not have time enough to visit any...
Graduate students Avery Robinson and Jacob Wilde contributed to a book chapter with Emma Allen-Vercoe that covers many aspects of Fusobacteria biology. Entitled "Fusobacteria: Physiology, Form and Function" it is published in "Colorectal neoplasia and the...
Pop some champagne and toast Avery Robinson and Greg Higgins of the Allen-Vercoe lab! Avery won a Canada Graduate Scholarship - 3-year Doctoral Award, and Greg won a Canada Graduate Scholarship 1 year Master's award, both from the Canadian Institutes of Health...
Bowel cancer Cancer refers to a collection of diseases in which some of the body’s cells divide uncontrollably and can spread to other parts of the body. Cancers can arise throughout the body but are generally divided into solid (e.g. bowel) or blood-based (e.g....
On October 27, 2020, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force issued a recommendation that colorectal cancer screening of individuals at average risk for the disease start at age 45 rather than age 50. “This recommendation is hugely impactful,” said OPTIMISTICC...
As a result of the tragic and untimely death of actor Chadwick Boseman from colorectal (CRC) cancer there has been increased awareness and attention to the alarming number of people being diagnosed with CRC under the age of...
Work from Dr. Fiona Powrie’s group at University of Oxford has identified an interaction between the receptor for the immune molecule interleukin-22 (IL-22) and alterations of the KRAS gene, showing that they cooperate in promoting excessive proliferation of...
I attended the virtual annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) May 29-31, 2020. I have attended multiple ASCO meetings, including the Annual Meeting and the Gastrointestinal ASCO meeting. Being a metastatic colon cancer survivor...
Bdellovibrio-and-Like Organisms (BALOs) are bacteria that have a unique lifestyle; they are predatory bacteria that attack and kill other bacterial species. The majority of the BALOs do this by squeezing inside the prey bacteria and using enzymes to dissolve the...
A team led by VHIO Principal Investigator and OPTIMISTICC scientist Dr. Paolo Nuciforo has found an association between the persistence of Fusobacterium nucleatum in rectal tumors of LARC patients after chemotherapy and higher rates of rectal cancer relapse....
Congratulations to Co-Investigator Josep Tabernero, MD, PhD, Director of Vall d’Hebron Institute of Oncology (VHIO), for receiving The National Research Award, bestowed by the Catalonian Government and the Catalonian Foundation for Research and...
Congratulations to Co-Principal Investigator Matthew Meyerson, MD, PhD, who recently shared in the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) 2020 Team Science Award for development of The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA)....
