Alberto J. Schuhmacher, the scientist who helps his neighbors fight cancer

The researcher of the Aragonese Agency for Research and Development (ARAID) and head of the Molecular Oncology group at the Aragón Health Research Institute began his love affair with science when he was still a child and playing on Paseo de la Constitución, next to the León XIII street in Zaragoza. From those years, she remembers with emotion the figure of her grandfather and the green balloons on the tables at the school. Spanish Association Against Cancer, where he decided to dedicate himself to science to “help with this.” Alberto was just a child when he spent the afternoons with his brothers doing “experiments”: from making crossbows to disassembling electric cars, research was in his genes.

“When there was no Internet, my window to science was the science supplement of the Heraldo de Aragón. There I learned what a transgenic mouse was.” Once again, his roots are present in his story. From the pages of the Herald to completing a doctoral thesis under the direction of Mariano Barbacid y Carmen Guerra at the National Center for Oncology Research (CNIO), where he developed and characterized animal models for the study of RAS genes in cancer and rare diseases. In addition, he completed a postdoctoral stay (2009-2013) at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York. In 2013 she returned to the CNIO, to the Brain Tumors laboratory led by Massimo Squatrito.

Returning home in 2017 was overwhelming, they made me 'Favorite Son of Zaragoza'. I don't feel like I deserve it, it's a creditable honor that I have to earn," says the scientist who began working for the Aragon Health Research Institute. And here it is, more than repaying that credit, by developing new non-invasive tools for the diagnosis of glioblastoma, the most malignant brain tumor. This project earned Alberto J. Schuhmacher a Leonardo scholarship awarded by the BBVA Foundation for research into this novel technique.

A virtual biopsy to obtain more information in cancer diagnosis

“We make contrasts that stick to the tumor when they have certain characteristics, and this complements the biopsies,” explains Alberto, trying to summarize a complex technique as much as possible. “These contrasts are based on antibodies, and an antibody is a protein that adheres to a tumor target. They are modified to be able to detect them with a scanner PET (Positron Emission Tomography) and obtain information,” says the scientist. This technique could complement the traditional biopsy, which consists of obtaining a sample of the tumor and analyzing it. In this case, we would be dealing with an invasive technique, since it requires surgery. In turn, the biopsy must face two challenges: the possibility of intervention (not possible in all cases) and what is called tumor heterogeneity, the tumor should not be understood as a homogeneous mass of cells. “I always say it, it's like if an alien comes and visits Cádiz or Vigo, the impression they get from Spain may vary. The tumor cells, depending on which ones you take, will have one characteristics or another,” Alberto illustrates.

Research has revealed new results: this technique has obtained a good response in the diagnosis of pancreatic cancer. One of the challenges that Alberto has faced when applying the technique in brain tumors are membranes that protect the brain and act as a barrier or filter of molecules. In the case of the pancreas, these membranes are not present. In addition, the contrast has blocked tumor cells and caused a better response to chemotherapy treatments in mice. “This is a seed where a tree has been growing and branches are opening. We start in the brain, but look if we end up in pancreatic cancer… we won't neglect other things. "We are going to check which tumor is most useful to apply it to, but we understand that in those where it is more difficult to obtain a biopsy it may make more sense."