Call for Hiring a Predoctoral Researcher in Training 2020-2024
15 July 2020
ISQCH researchers develop a biomolecule that identifies and treats lung tumors
15 July 2020The team led by Patricia Sancho studies the role that fat plays in the high mortality of this disease, which kills 90% of patients in less than a year after being diagnosed.
Donations for the project, which has already managed to raise 5.000 euros, can be made through the platform www.precipita.es
Pancreatic cancer is a lethal disease: 90% of patients die the following year after diagnosis. To search for new effective therapies that increase the life expectancy of patients, the group 'Metabolism and cancer stem cells' of the Aragón Health Research Institute (IIS Aragón) has launched a fundraising campaign that will allow it to successfully conclude its research project. The initiative, which has already managed to raise 5.000 euros, is housed in Precipita (https://ciencia.precipita.es/cancerpancreas), a crowdfunding platform created by the Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology (FECYT) where people and companies interested in science can contribute money to promote scientific research.
The group, led by researcher Patricia Sancho, focuses on the role that fat plays in the aggressiveness of tumors. “Our research has shown that the most aggressive tumor cells accumulate and use fat as a food source. By having their own fat accumulated, they are able to survive and grow in hostile conditions,” she explains. “Therefore, the project aims to interfere with this process by stopping tumor cells from feeding on fat from their environment, or by preventing these cells from burning fat as a source of energy, thus creating 'obese' cells. In both cases, the end result is that the most aggressive cancer cells run out of energy and die, that is, we want to starve pancreatic cancer,” she summarizes.
According to Sancho, pancreatic cancer is “increasingly common” in the population due to risk factors such as tobacco, alcohol, diabetes or obesity. “It is a silent disease in early stages, which means that, at the time of diagnosis, the tumor is very advanced, even having formed metastases in other organs. For these reasons, the effectiveness of current treatments decreases practically to zero and survival 5 years after diagnosis is less than 9%,” she argues.
The long-term goal of the project is to improve the quality and life expectancy of pancreatic cancer patients, proposing new treatment options that may be more effective. “Our research is carried out in mice, so this goal may take years to achieve. But, since we suggest drugs in clinical use currently, the transition to clinical trials in people can be faster,” adds the researcher.
With the funds obtained, the group intends to finance a research contract so that its predoctoral student has the opportunity to finish his thesis. Sancho's team is made up of Sarah Courtois as a postdoctoral researcher, Beatriz Parejo as a predoctoral researcher and Pilar Espiau as a laboratory technician. It works in very close collaboration with the different services of the Miguel Servet Hospital that deal with pancreatic cancer patients in different phases: Digestive Service, Hepatobiliopancreatic Surgery, Pathological Anatomy and Oncology. In addition, it is part of the Digestive Pathology group and its collaborations at a national and international level include those carried out with University College London and Barts Cancer Institute in England, and the Universities of Uppsala (Sweden), Bologna (Italy), Ulm ( Germany) and Mar del Plata (Argentina). Likewise, this project won a grant from the Worldwide Cancer Research Foundation and the Spanish Cancer Association.
About the Aragón Health Research Institute (IIS Aragón)
The IIS Aragón is the Health Research Institute of the hospital complex formed by the Teaching and University Hospitals “Hospital Clínico Universitario Lozano Blesa” and “Hospital Universitario Miguel Servet” and Primary Health Care. The University of Zaragoza and the Aragonese Institute of Health Sciences are associated with this hospital complex through different legal instruments.
The objectives of the IIS Aragón are to bring together basic and applied, clinical and health services research; create a quality research, care and teaching environment to which health professionals, training specialists and postgraduate and undergraduate students are exposed, as well as constitute the ideal place for attracting talent and the location of large scientific facilities. technological.