Researchers from the University of Granada and the Andalusian Health Service belonging to the Centre for Genomics and Oncological Research open the gate to the development of new anti-tumoral drugs and more personalized treatments against this disease
Today, February 4, we celebrate World Cancer Day
Researchers from the University ofGranada and the Andalusian Health Service (Servicio Andaluz de Salud,SAS) belonging to the Centre for Genomics and Oncological Research (Centrode Genómica e Investigación Oncológica, GENYO) have patented a new methodthat allows to identify the cells causing metastasis in cancer, with a simpleblood analysis.
This research, first of its kind inthe world, has been presented this morning on the occasion of World Cancer Day,and opens the gate to the development of new anti-tumoral drugs and morepersonalized treatments against this disease.
During the presentation, JoséAntonio Lorente Acosta, GENYO Scientific manager and lead researcher of theGroup of Liquid Biopsy and Metastasis, stressed the clinical significance thatmonitoring the metastatic process in cancer has.
«More than 80% of cancer-relateddeaths are due to metastasis, not the primary tumor. That’s why preciselyunderstanding how this mechanism works is fundamental for developing new, moreefficient drugs against it», the UGR professor says.
The mostcomplete radiography of Circulating Tumor Cells (CTCs)
GENYO researchers Juan José DíazMochón and María José Serrano Fernández have explained that the new,patented markers «allow to identify, for the first time, all of the existingCTCs sub-populations, the cells responsible of the metastatic process, in whichthey travel through the blood and the lymphatic system and colonize organs farfrom the primary tumor».
GENYO researchers have managed tomake the most complete radiography of CTCs to this day, «with which we can makea diagnosis and prognosis of the cancer with just a blood analysis, and whichwill allow us to monitor, in real time, both the efficacy of the treatments andthe occurrence of metastasis, even when the primary tumor has already beenremoved».
The authors of this research, whichinclude oncologists José Luis García Puche and José ExpósitoHernández, stated that «nowadays, there are few researches that analyzethis ‘valley of the death’ that spans from the origination of the primary tumorto the metastatic process in another organ due to the action of the CTCs.That’s why it’s mandatory to further study how these tumor cells work and tostablish therapeutic targets against them».
On liquid biopsy
The concept of liquid biopsy hasbeen recently introduced in the biomedical context for the personalizedmonitoring of cancer patients. According to the researchers at GENYO, «the maingoal of liquid biopsy is the detection of the potential virulence of thedisease with just a blood analysis and, based on the biological markers foundin the test, decide what treatment could be the most effective for eachpatient».
These personalized tests makepossible to obtain biological information about the tumor in cases in which asolid biopsy is not possible, as is the case of patients with metastatic lungcancer. Moreover, they give us extremely necessary information, complementaryto that obtained by solid biopsies, given that liquid biopsies allow to detectif the therapeutic targets identified keep constant throughout time.
«This information is vital, ascancer is not a stable disease: tumor cells are capable of changing theirgenetic characteristics throughout the tumoral process», professor Lorentestresses.
Therefore, the importance of liquidbiopsies lies in the sheer nature of the disease, which implies genetic changesin tumor cells, which additionally allow said cells to avoid the influence ofboth the immune system and the treatment given to the patient.
The application of these tests inthe clinical practice is an unavoidable necessity which will give access not onlyto the establishment of more personalized treatments, but also to a reductionin health spending. This could be possible thanks to the doctors being able toearlier identify the response to the treatment, so avoiding over-treatment andthe high toxicity associated with these therapies.
WorldCancer Day
Today, February 4, we celebrateWorld Cancer Day, an event that aims to raise public awareness and to mobilizesociety to progress in the prevention and control of this disease.
Cancer is one of the leading causesof death in Spain: one out of three males and one out of four females will bediagnosed of cancer in their lifetime.
Bibliographicreferences:
Serrano, MJ et al. miRNA in situ hybridization in circulatingtumor cells – MishCTC, Scientific Reports 5,: 9207 (2015)doi:10.1038/srep09207
Serrano, MJ et al. EMT and EGFR in CTCs cytokeratin negativenon-metastatic breast cancer Oncotarget, 5(17), 7486-7497. EP13382436.7
Contact:
JoséAntonio Lorente Acosta
Centro de Genómica e InvestigaciónOncológica (GENYO) [Centre for Genomics and Oncological Research]
Telephone: (+34) 958 715 500
E-mail: jlorente@ugr.es
