Professor Francesca Ciccarelli

Professor of Cancer Genomics
Principal Group Leader, Cancer Systems Biology, The Francis Crick Institute

Overview

Our group investigates cancer evolution, with a focus on understanding how genetic changes influence disease progression, response to therapy and development of resistance. We particularly concentrate on gastrointestinal cancers such as colorectal, stomach and oesophageal cancer.

We employ advanced computational techniques to analyse tumour samples, generating complex molecular data at the level of individual cells. These data help us predict tumour behaviour and patient outcomes. Additionally, we explore how the tumour microenvironment, including the immune system, interacts with cancer genetics, expanding our understanding of cancer evolution.

We collaborate closely with clinicians to analyse clinical trial data to better understand how different individuals respond to treatments. Ultimately, all of our work aims to benefit patients and reveal opportunities to develop more effective cancer therapies.

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Team

Dr Amelia Acha

Staff Scientist

Pietro Andrei

PhD Student

Joy Efiannayi

PhD Student

Raul Jimenez

Postdoctoral Researcher

Dr Toni Martinez

Postdoctoral Researcher

Firda Maruf

PhD Student

Dr Xiyuan Qi

Postdoctoral Researcher

Dr Sandra Romain

Postdoctoral Researcher

Elena Sasso

Bioinformatician

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Research

Our group investigates cancer evolution, with a focus on understanding how genetic changes influence disease progression, response to therapy and development of resistance. We particularly concentrate on gastrointestinal cancers such as colorectal, stomach and oesophageal cancer.

We employ advanced computational techniques to analyse tumour samples, generating complex molecular data at the level of individual cells. These data help us predict tumour behaviour and patient outcomes. Additionally, we explore how the tumour microenvironment, including the immune system, interacts with cancer genetics, expanding our understanding of cancer evolution.

We collaborate closely with clinicians to analyse clinical trial data to better understand how different individuals respond to treatments. Ultimately, all of our work aims to benefit patients and reveal opportunities to develop more effective cancer therapies.

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Key Publications

Mechanistic insights into the interactions between cancer drivers and the tumour immune microenvironment. Genome Medicine (2023) in press. PMID: 37277866
Somatic variation in normal tissues: friend or foe of cancer early detection? Annals of Oncology (2022) S0923-7534(22)04148-5. PMID: 36162751.
Comparative assessment of genes driving cancer and somatic evolution in noncancer tissues: an update of the Network of Cancer Genes (NCG) resource. Genome Biology (2022) 23(1):35. PMID: 35078504
Immunogenomics of colorectal cancer response to checkpoint blockade: analysis of the KEYNOTE 177 trial and validation cohorts. Gastroenterology (2021) 161(4):1179-1193. PMID: 34197832.
Pan-cancer detection of driver genes at the single-patient resolution. Genome Medicine (2021) 13(1):12. PMID: 33517897.

See recent publications

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Major Funding

2023-2026 – Barts Charity grant, £1,022,246, PI
2023-2028 – CRUK City of London Major Centre Award Renewal, £25,000,000, Co-I
2022-2026 – CRUK Early Detection Project Award “Early detection of oesophageal adenocarcinoma (OAC) from Barrett’s oesophagus (BO): defining genetic and microenvironmental drivers of BO-OAC transition”, £498,174, PI
2018-2024 – CRUK Programme Foundation Award “Divided and conquered: analysis of patient inter- and intra-tumour genetic heterogeneity to identify dysfunctional processes in oesophageal cancer” £1,321,174, PI

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Other Activities

City of London CRUK Major Centre Cancer Evolution Theme co-lead (2019-present)
Member of the Steering Committee of the Oesophageal Cancer Clinical and Molecular Stratification (OCCAMS) consortium

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Biography

I graduated in pharmaceutical chemistry (Master’s degree) at the University of Bologna in 1998. After a year spent as a junior fellow at the Istituto Mario Negri, I joined the group of Peer Bork at the EMBL in Heidelberg. There, I worked in comparative genomics and phylogenetics. I earned my PhD in Natural Science at the University of Heidelberg in 2003, and I stayed as a postdoctoral fellow in the Bork group until 2005. I then moved to Milan to establish my own research group at the European Institute of Oncology (IEO). At IEO, my group developed a systems-level approach to study cancer genes and also started to produce and analyze high throughput cancer genomic data.

In 2014, I joined King’s College London as Associate Professor (Reader) in Cancer Genomics and Bioinformatics. From 2015, I coordinated the Quantitative Genomics, Epigenomics, and Biobank Programme in the Division of Cancer Studies at King’s. I was appointed as Professor of Cancer Genomics at King’s College London in 2018.

I moved to the Barts Cancer Institute at Queen Mary University of London in 2023 where I now lead the Centre for Cancer Evolution. I have also been a seconded group leader at the Francis Crick Institute since 2017, and I continue to hold a lab there.

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