Research

Our goal is to contribute to improve what is known as precision or personalized medicine by changing the current clinic practice towards a more informative choice of therapies lines. Not all KRAS mutations are the same and, therefore, we must start stratifying patients by genetic profile. To do so, we are systematically using mouse transplantation systems (orthotopic transplants) of genetically engineered pancreatic organoids to accurately recreate a faithful tumor ecosystem. We aim to delve into the tumor biology and populations dynamics displayed by these different KRAS mutations in response to the gold standard treatment: chemotherapy, to uncover and characterized new targetable nodes and generate personalized therapies for each patient with pancreatic cancer. 

The choice of chemotherapy is due to two reasons: 1) it is the most widely used treatment at present and originates resistance in most the of patients and, 2) there are no studies that relate the type of mutation in KRAS with different mechanisms of resistance to specific chemotherapeutic agents. 

Funding 

Precision genetics to tackle pancreatic cancer chemoresistance. LABAE234749ZAFR. LAB AECC. Fundación Española Contra el Cáncer. 01/11/2023- 30/04/2027. 

Uncovering of new intratumoral populations driven by distinct KRAS mutations to reveal new therapeutic vulnerabilities in pancreatic cancer. PID2022-137653OA-I00. Agencia Estatal de Investigación (AEI). 01/09/2023- 30/08/2026.