Congratulations to PhD student Karim Bouhjar for winning a best poster prize at the 33rd Annual Scientific Day of the Institut du cancer de Montréal

Karim Bouhjar holds a Master’s degree in Biochemistry and Molecular and Cell Biology and is currently enrolled in a joint PhD program at UNamur and the University of Montreal. His doctoral thesis focuses on studying the response to anticancer treatments in head and neck cancer according to the HPV status. Indeed, HPV-positive and HPV-negative head and neck cancers exhibit different disease profiles and distinct tumorigenic processes, while their treatment management is the same. Preliminary data indicate that cancer cell responses to treatment vary depending on the HPV status, resulting in either a pro-apoptotic or pro-senescent response.

Karim’s thesis investigates the different cell fates following treatment, with a specific interest in treatment-induced senescence (TIS). Cellular senescence plays a complex and context-dependent role in cancer processes. On one hand, it acts as a defense mechanism against cancer by inducing a stable cell cycle arrest.  Inducing senescence through chemotherapy or radiotherapy could thus potentially contribute to limit cancer progression. However, this cellular senescence can also promote cancer development by creating a proinflammatory environment which stimulates cancer cell survival and tumor growth. 

For the first two years of his PhD thesis, Karim worked in Namur within the team of Prof. Carine Michiels (NARILIS, URBC), where he fully characterized the induction of the senescent phenotype following treatments, based on HPV status, using head and neck cancer cell lines.

Since September 2023, he moved to Montréal to join the team of Prof. Francis Rodier (Centre de recherche du CHUM; Institut du cancer de Montréal). Next steps include proteomic analyses to identify candidates involved in this induction of senescence based on HPV status. Access to the CrCHUM biobank will allow the various hypotheses to be tested in situ in patients.

On May 16, 2024, Karim presented his work at the annual scientific day of the Institut du cancer de Montréal. His poster communication entitled “Study of treatment-induced senescence (TIS) in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) according to the HPV status” attracted a lot of interest and earned him a best poster prize.