Miguel G. FERREIRA invites Corine BERTOLOTTO from the Centre Méditerranéen de Médecine Moléculaire (C3M) institute for an external seminar, open to the scientific community, on Monday 2 June at noon – Faculty of Medicine – Auditorium 1

« Uveal melanomas: identification of new prognosis biomarkers and therapeutic targets« 

Abstract: Uveal melanoma is the most common primary intraocular malignancy in adults. Despite successful treatment of primary lesions, metastases develop in half of the patients. Metastatic uveal melanomas are highly refractory to existing therapeutic strategies. Thus, there is an urgent need for an improved understanding of the molecular mechanisms involved in uveal melanoma progression to find prognosis biomarkers to enhance their early detection and efficient therapeutic treatments. To address these points, we analyzed primary uveal melanomas using a single cell approach that uncovered intratumor heterogeneity, which is a known cause of therapy resistance, and revealed a targetable module driving growth and metastasis formation. Moreover, using genetic CRISPR-Cas9 screens in metastatic uveal melanoma cells we identified new actionable vulnerabilities. Our data revealed several novel targetable pathways to exploit for improving uveal melanoma prognosis and treatment.