Results and publications
1st Grant - 2021
Clinical identification and validation of epigenetic biomarkers based on circulating DNA methylation to monitor treatment response in pancreatic cancer
Lead researcher: Elena María Brozos Vázquez
Servicio de Oncología Médica del Hospital del Área Sanitaria de Santiago de Compostela e Barbanza
The project analysed DNA methylation data from retrospective tumour tissue samples from patients with pancreatic cancer and compared them with matched normal tissue samples.
Three markers were identified, opening the way for further studies to confirm their value in the non-invasive monitoring of these patients.
2nd Grant - 2022
Pharmacological inhibition of the RAS/MAPK signalling pathway for the treatment of recurrent neuroblastoma resistant to current therapies
Lead researcher: Fernando Calvo Baltanás
Instituto de Biomedicina de Sevilla -Universidad de Sevilla
The project investigates the RAS/MAPK pathway as a potential therapeutic target in recurrent neuroblastoma or disease resistant to current treatments. This line of research has continued at IBiS and has generated preclinical results supporting the study of inhibitors of this pathway in high-risk neuroblastoma models.
Publications related to this research
Inhibitor BI-3406 shows in vivo antitumor activity akin to genetic ablation and synergizes with a KRASG12D inhibitor in KRAS LUAD
Authors: Fernando C. Baltanás, Maximilian Kramer-Drauberg, Rósula García-Navas, Enrico Patrucco, Ettore Petrini, Heribert Arnhof, Andrea Olarte-San Juan, Pablo Rodríguez-Ramos, Javier Borrajo, Nuria Calzada, Esther Castellano, Barbara Mair, Kaja Kostyrko, Marco H. Hofmann, Chiara Ambrogio and Eugenio Santos.
Published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), 2025, volume 122, issue 11
SOS1 ablation alters focal adhesion dynamics and increases Mmp2/9-dependent gelatinase activity in primary mouse embryonic fibroblasts
Authors: Pilar Liceras-Boillos, Rósula García-Navas, Clara Llorente-González, L. Francisco Lorenzo-Martin, Luis Luna-Ramírez, Rocío Fuentes-Mateos, Nuria Calzada, Francisco M. Vega, Mark R. Holt, Anne J. Ridley, Xose R. Bustelo, Miguel Vicente-Manzanares, Eugenio Santos and Fernando C. Baltanás.
Published in: Cell Communication and Signaling, 2025, volume 23, article 116
SOS1: tracking the evolving path from promising to actionable therapeutic target in RAS-dependent cancers
Authors: Luis Luna-Ramírez, Rósula García-Navas, Eugenio Santos and Fernando C. Baltanás.
Published in: Molecular Cancer, 2026, volume 25, article 150
3rd Grant - 2023
Project ongoing
EXPOS Study: Exposome and precision medicine in patients with cancer harbouring oncogenic fusions: understanding the role of carcinogens and their clinical implications
Lead researcher: Laura Mezquita
Fundació de Recerca Clínic Barcelona-Institut d’Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer
The EXPOS study investigates the role of the exposome —the environmental and other external exposures accumulated throughout life— in patients with tumours driven by oncogenic fusions. The aim is to understand how these factors may influence the disease and help move towards more personalised precision medicine. The study is currently ongoing within GETTHI.
4th Grant - 2024
Project ongoing
Analysis of genetic and epigenetic alterations in colorectal cancer diagnosed
in young patients.
Lead researcher: Ismael Ghanem Cañete
Fundación para la Investigación Biomédica del Hospital Universitario La Paz.
The team has identified young patients diagnosed with colon cancer in recent years and has obtained informed consent from many of them to take part in the study.
A new technique is currently being implemented and validated to analyse genetic and epigenetic information from DNA together. This validation is needed to ensure reliable results before sample analysis begins.
5th Grant - 2025
Project in development
New approaches to diagnosis and treatment for a rare sarcoma affecting young people.
Lead researcher: Carmen Salguero Aranda
Fundación Pública Andaluza para la Gestión de la Investigación en Salud de Sevilla (FISEVI).
The project focuses on desmoplastic small round cell tumour, a very rare and aggressive sarcoma that mainly affects adolescents and young adults and is difficult to diagnose and treat.
The study will investigate the molecule CRTC3 as a possible marker to distinguish this tumour from other similar sarcomas using tests that could be implemented in a wider range of hospitals. It will also explore whether CRTC3 could become a new route for the development of targeted treatments.
6th Grant - 2025
Awarded on 15 October 2026
Determinants of extremely early-onset colorectal cancer in a DNA repair deficiency model.
Author: Marta Pineda Riu
Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute, L’Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona. IDIBELL
The project aims to understand why some colorectal cancers appear at extremely young ages. To do this, it will study what happens when DNA repair mechanisms fail. These mechanisms normally help protect our cells from the accumulation of genetic alterations.
The aim is to better understand which changes favour the early development of the tumour and to generate useful knowledge that may, in the future, help improve its prevention, diagnosis and treatment.