The Zaragoza III Health Sector, recognized as a Center Committed to Excellence in Care
7 May 2025
The 6th edition of 'ipIBA Day', on June XNUMXth
9 May 2025
It will be divided equally between two research projects. One is led by Diego Sánchez (IIS Aragón) and the other by Eva Gálvez (CSIC) and Ramón Hurtado (BIFI – Unizar).. Immunotherapy is a treatment that is already being applied to some cancer patients, including children, when conventional therapies are insufficient.
Aspanoa, the association that cares for children with cancer in Aragon, has just invested 120.000 euros to promote two new research projects against childhood cancer. Both focus on increase the effectiveness of new immunotherapies, a treatment that is already being used successfully in some patients when conventional therapies are insufficient.
El first project coordinates it Diego Sánchez Martínez, ARAID researcher at the Aragón Health Research Institute (IIS Aragón), and focuses on T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemiaThis is a rare cancer that occurs in both children and adults, and has a low survival rate when it relapses. "Currently, these patients are treated with intensive chemotherapy and bone marrow transplants. But if both fail, they are left with no options," explains this Zaragoza researcher.
Currently, the One Chain Immunotherapeutics (OCI), spin off of the Josep Carreras Leukemia Research Institute, is doing a clinical trial for patients from all over Europe who have this type of cancer. Sánchez Martínez actively participated in the development of this therapy, based on CAR-T immunotherapy. This treatment involves extracting the patient's T cells, making them stronger in the laboratory, and reintroducing them into the affected person so they can attack the tumor.
“CAR-T cells have a huge potential and potential. But we still don't understand why they work very well for some patients and not for others,” explains Sánchez Martínez. While awaiting the results of this trial, Their project will consist of combining this immunotherapy with a drug that hinders the development of tumors.
This drug acts against proteins present in tumor cells, making them more resistant to death than healthy cells. Therefore, he wants to combine CAR-T cells with this protein inhibitor to see if the treatment is more effective and persistent. "We are seeing a significant number of patients treated with CAR-T cells relapse after a few years. And One of our challenges is precisely to try to make CAR-T cells last longer in the individual to avoid relapses.. The combination with other drugs can be essential.”
This research will be developed over the next two years. and is in a preclinical phase, meaning it will be conducted on mice. If successful, a clinical trial could be designed in the medium to long term.
In addition to Dr. Sánchez Martínez, in this project The scientists Iñaki Arretxe, Sofía Blasco, Sandra Hidalgo, Lydia Minguel and Carmen Oñate are participating. In addition, they collaborate with pediatric oncologists Yurena Aguilar (from the Miguel Servet Children's Hospital in Zaragoza) and Pablo Velasco (from the Vall d'Hebron Hospital in Barcelona).
Detecting tumors through sugar
El second project they coordinate it Eva Gálvez, scientist at the Institute of Carbochemistry of the CSIC, and Ramón Hurtado Guerrero, ARAID researcher at the Institute of Biocomputation and Physics of Complex Systems (BIFI) of the University of Zaragoza. They also collaborate researchers from the IIS Aragón, among which the scientists stand out for their participation Jorge Paúl and Julián Pardo.
This project will work on another type of immunotherapy, specifically, the based on natural killer cells (called NK cells in English –'Natural Killers'-). These cells are part of the immune system of all humans and are, among others, the responsible for preventing the development of tumors and attacking them when they appear.
In the case of children with cancer, these cells have often failed because they have been unable to detect the tumor because it has evolved and become invisible to them. This research, therefore, aims to help the NK find him so they can destroy him.
To do this, they will develop genetically engineered antibodies that will directly target the tumor. These are called BIKEs (bispecific antibodies binding to killer cells) because they perform two functions simultaneously: stick to the tumor and, at the same time, attract NK cells to that spot so they can see it and attack it.
Researchers want these antibodies recognize the tumor through the sugars it generates, since it has been observed that tumor cells label proteins with these sugars differently than healthy cells. This difference in labeling is known as aberrant glycosylation.
El project will focus on neuroblastoma, a tumor that accounts for 8% of pediatric tumors but is responsible for 15% of childhood cancer deaths. However, since up to 90% of tumors have been shown to generate this aberrant glycosylation, researchers are hopeful that if this BIKE is successful, can also be used for other cancers, such as brain tumors"Once safety tests have been conducted in patients with neuroblastoma, clinical trials could be conducted for other tumors without having to repeat these tests," Gálvez and Hurtado explain.
But that would still take several years, because the investigation is in progress. preclinical phase. First, they need to test that it works in the lab. And if they succeed, they're working on the idea of turning BIKEs into a tri-specific molecule, which would have not just two functions, but three. The first, to stick to the tumor. The second, to attract NK cells. And the third, to add an enzyme that destroys the tumor's sugars, since these promote its development. Another option they're working on is for this third function to be to attract T cells to the cancer (those from CAR-T immunotherapies), causing it to be attacked by both NK and T cells, with the aim to increase the chances of success.
Importance of Aspanoa's aid
The two research groups agree on the revolution that new immunotherapies are bringing about and highlight the importance of these Aspanoa grants. "These types of diseases are under-researched, and patient associations play a fundamental role," explains Diego Sánchez Martínez, who adds that, in his case, this grant is "a turning point" for his group to continue growing and consolidating.
For his part, Dr. Hurtado explains that winning this call will "help them a lot," as it will allow them to hire a researcher and "accelerate the project."
The work of Aspanoa
Aspanoa is the association that cares for children with cancer in Aragon, supports their families, and promotes research into childhood cancer in the region. Last year, it treated 210 children and adolescents with cancer at various stages of the disease, as well as their parents and siblings. Furthermore, it is the regional association that allocates the most funds to research into this disease in all of Spain. Its current investment is €330.000, distributed across nine projects, all led by Aragonese laboratories.
Main Image: Diego Sánchez Martínez, ARAID researcher at the Aragón Health Research Institute (IIS Aragón), alongside scientists Iñaki Arretxe, Sofía Blasco, Sandra Hidalgo, Lydia Minguel and Carmen Oñate. Asier Alkorta
