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14 February 2017
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Teaching is concentrated in the faculties and schools, and the departments deal with research, which is also conducted by institutes and chairs, at the same time responsible for knowledge promotion.
Approximately 15-20% of patients with breast cancer present over-expression and/or inhibition of human epidermal growth factor (HER2). Despite huge therapeutic advances made over the years in the treatment of this type of cancer, 62% of patients develop resistance after one year. Many efforts have focused on looking at and understanding the different molecular and cell mechanisms involved in this resistance. The group currently has two research lines underway focusing on studying the mechanisms of resistance in this subtype of cancer.
In cancer, the normal pattern of epigenetic regulation is altered and is characterised by hyper-methylation of the regions regulating certain tumour-suppressing genes, which provokes inactivation of the gene. Knowledge of the role played by this aberrant pattern of methylation in the different stages of cancer means methylation can be used as a biomarker in detection, progression and treatment response.
Our project focuses on evaluating the pattern of methylation in lines sensitive and resistant to the drug trastuzumab (Herceptin®) in HER2+ breast cancer, with the final objective of determining a possible epigenetic biomarker which would help in detection, monitoring or prediction of response in these subtypes of breast cancer.The results of this study allow more personalised treatment plans to be drawn up. Project funded thanks to the Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad .
New research has shown that RANKL signalling is involved in bone metastasis and remodelling, and is related to the formation of breast tumours and metastases, through its receptor, RANK. These results suggest that an anti-RANK treatment, alone or in combination with other anti-HER2 therapies, could be a new therapeutic approach to prevent and treat breast cancer and metastases.
The project, funded by TV3's Marató Foundation and conducted in our research centre, sits within broader studies into interaction between the RANK pathway and the HER2 pathway. Possible co-treatment with denosumab (Xgeva®, an anti-RANK drug currently in clinical use) and trastuzumab is also being studied for HER2+ breast cancer and metastases.
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