The Department of Therapeutic innovation and early stage trials strengthened by the appointment of professor Chirstophe Massard as its head

Villejuif, 17th January 2024

The Department of Therapeutic innovation and early stage trials strengthened by the appointment of professor Chirstophe Massard as its head

Professor Fabrice Barlesi, Gustave Roussy’s general director, appoints Professor Christophe Massard as head of the Department of Therapeutic Innovation and Early Stage Trials, the « DITEP ». He took office on the 8th of January. With his return at the head of the DITEP to strengthen the current team, Professor Massard will continue the restructuring of the early stage clinical research of Gustave Roussy, in close collaboration with the Direction of Clinical Research, led by Professor Benjamin Besse, and the different departments of medical oncology, hematology and radiotherapy. He replaces Doctor Santiago Ponce, who becomes deputy director in charge of the development, within the Direction of Clinical Research at Gustave Roussy.

In the context of strong international competition, this nomination illustrates Gustave Roussy’s strong ambition to continue the growth of early stage trials, to give patients access to more new therapeutic technologies and new drugs.

With more than 2700 patients screened over 2023 and 450 patients dosed in phase I and phase I-II every year, more than 140 protocols in progress and 10 000 patients who were or who are enrolled in a precision medicine program (e.g.: MOSCATO, MATCH-R, SAFIR, liquid biopsy with PRISM PORTAL, STING, etc.) lead by Professor Antoine Italiano, Gustave Roussy with the DITEP is today one of the largest early stage centers in Europe and in the world. It develops new strategies and treatments combination for patients suffering from all cancer types, including blood cancer.

The DITEP relies on a multi-professional team (clinical research associates, assistants, planners, medical research assistants, sample managers, caregivers, etc.) around a medical team dedicated to early stages protocols. More than 120 collaborators and 16 doctors are working there.

Professor Christophe Massard, MD, PhD, is a medical oncologist specialized in genitourinary cancers since 2006 and oncology professor at Paris-Saclay University. He started his career at Gustave Roussy. In 2007, he became involved in phase I/II trials and became a worldwide renowned expert. In 2013, he took part in the creation of the DITEP, to strengthen the role of therapeutic innovation and early stage trials at Gustave Roussy, through the creation of this fully dedicated medical department.

In September 2017, he was named head of the DITEP, and ran the department for almost four years. In June 2021, he took a new position at the Eugene Marquis center in Rennes, where he was the coordinator of Brittany’s regional oncological department, in charge of CLIP2 at Inca and research director.

Over the last 10 years, Professor Massard was the main investigator in more than 50 phase I trials and basket trials, as well as one phase III trials in prostate cancer and co-investigator of more than 100 phase I clinical trials and trials in genitourinary cancers. He contributed to more than 100 scientific publications, including some in Annals of Oncology, Journal of Clinical Oncology and Lancet Oncology.

He is an associate editor for phase I trials in the journal Annals of Oncology and is a member of the nominating committee of the European society for Medical oncology (ESMO).