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Barbacid: «If I were 20 years old, I would be more in favor of working on early cancer diagnosis than on therapies»
20 January 2021
SPANISH BIOCHEMIST - FORMER DIRECTOR OF THE NATIONAL ONCOLOGICAL RESEARCH CENTER. “Past cuts have done much more damage to research than the pandemic,” he says.
Mariano Barbacid, one of the most prestigious biochemists in the world and who was director of the National Center for Oncological Research, was in charge this Monday of giving the Cajal Lecture at the University of Zaragoza under the heading Oncology of the 21st century: from personalized therapies to immunotherapy.
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-What would Ramón Cajal think if he raised his head and saw the one that was falling?
-I suppose you would be excited to see, not only how the pandemic is being managed, but how science and research in general are in your beloved Spain a century later. Let us remember the impact that his (and Jaime Ferrán's) work had to combat the cholera epidemic in the mid-19th century. Now we have to settle for receiving the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine, since the Spanish groups that are developing it do not have the financing or the necessary infrastructure to be able to compete with these companies.
-The pandemic has disrupted everything, has oncological research in Spain slowed down much?
-Without a doubt, but given what other sectors of our society are suffering, I think we cannot complain. The cuts of the past decade have done much more damage and we are still here.
-Immunotherapy and personalized treatments are the future. Will they help reduce the aggressiveness of some cancers such as lung, colon or pancreas?
-Indeed. Personalized therapies (Herceptin in 1998 and Gleevec in 2001) at the beginning of the century and immunotherapy (Ipilimumab and especially Pembrolizumab and Nivolimab) a decade later have represented a revolution in the treatments of many tumors. Currently, the use of chemotherapy has been reduced to those cases in which the therapy has not yet had the desired effect, as is the case of pancreatic cancer and some cases of lung and colon tumors, among others. The future should also be focused on early detection, because a localized tumor can always be removed in a less invasive way.
-At some point will research make it possible to eradicate a large part of the incidence of cancer or put an end to some tumors?
-The incidence of cancer can only be reduced little by little if we are able to eliminate the risk factors. The case of tobacco is paradigmatic. In the US, the incidence of lung cancer has been reduced very considerably thanks to limitations in the use of tobacco. But, even if we eliminated all the risk factors and led the healthiest life possible, we would never be completely free of the possibility of developing cancer.
-Why?
-Tumors originate from the accumulation of errors (mutations) that our cells can make every time they divide and proliferate. It is as if they were accidents that occur more and more frequently as we age and our DNA repair processes become less effective. Therefore, the incidence is not going to decrease, especially with an increasingly older population. What we must do is continue investigating. If this is not done, it will not be possible to move forward.
-Aragon is a land of research. What references do you have?
-I confess that I have not had much contact with either the University of Zaragoza or Aragonese research centers. I know researchers like Luis Oro, Carlos Martín, Jesús Santamaría, Juan José Badiola or Alberto Schuhmacher. I am sure that this is just the tip of the iceberg and I hope to be able to remedy this deficiency as soon as possible and go to Zaragoza.
-What assessment do you make of the political actions and the measures adopted during the covid?
-I am not a virologist, much less an epidemiologist, so I only subscribe to my opinions on the subject of scientific research in general and cancer in particular. The pandemic will, most likely, be resolved in a year or two at most. The already endemic lack of support for scientific research in our country, I fear, will continue to be a scourge that, as long as our political class does not become aware of it, will prevent Spain from being the first-class country that we all desire.
-Should there have been home confinement already?
-I wish I had a magic formula to be able to combine health, economics and social behavior so that some would not negatively affect the others. The solution is not simple and I do not want to increase the noise of opinions that already exists now
