News
Interview with Geneviève Deblois - Focus on breast cancer
Published on October 29, 2025
The team led by Geneviève Deblois, Principal Investigator in IRIC’s Metabolic and Epigenetic Alterations in Cancer Research Unit, is studying a particularly aggressive subtype of breast cancer called triple-negative breast cancer, which is characterized by high relapse rates and a lack of targeted therapeutic options. Patients with this type of cancer are usually treated with chemotherapy, but relapse rates are high. The team is seeking to understand how these tumor cells adapt and survive in a microenvironment depleted of nutrients and oxygen, as well as the mechanisms that enable them to resist chemotherapy, in order to develop new, more effective therapeutic strategies.
Geneviève, why did you decide to focus your research on breast cancer in particular?
Geneviève Deblois (G.D.): I chose to focus my research on breast cancer because there is still a great deal to learn in order to better treat patients with this disease. In particular, triple-negative breast cancer remains very difficult to treat due to its high heterogeneity and resistance to current therapies.
Do you also have personal motivations for wanting to make a difference in breast cancer?
G.D.: At a very young age, I was affected by close friends and family members, women, who had breast cancer. At that time, screening was more limited and treatment options were less effective. Seeing their journeys and struggles awakened in me a desire to understand this disease and to make a concrete contribution to the fight against it. I wanted to make a difference to help women today and tomorrow face the disease with better chances of survival.
What would be your ultimate wish for breast cancer research?
G.D.: To successfully translate basic discoveries into clinical advances that can tangibly improve patient survival and quality of life. I would like the team’s work to identify new therapeutic targets, better predict treatment response, and ultimately develop more personalized and less toxic approaches.
