Colon and breast cancer now have 160,000 euros more to investigate how to eradicate them. It was thanks to the FERO Foundation, which tonight held a scholarship award gala at the Rosewood Villa Magna Hotel in Madrid directed by its president, Silvia Garriga. Is the XXVIII FERO Grant and the VI FERO-ghd Project in Breast Cancer, which proposes projects to improve knowledge about how age-related metabolic changes can affect the development of colorectal cancer and how altered glycosylation in tumor cells can affect the efficacy of antibody-drug conjugates in breast cancer.
The official presentation of the scholarships took place during a charity dinner, attended by more than 250 people, and which was sponsored by Kettal and Astrazeneca. The event, hosted by Roberto Brasero and led by the president of the Foundation, Silvia Garriga, accompanied by the vice presidents Sol Daurella and Angie Miquelwas attended by prominent personalities from the scientific and social fields. Among them was José Creuheras, president of the Planeta and Atresmedia groups, with his wife, Columna Martí.
«At FERO we are firmly committed to translational research, and an example of this is our alliance with the Hospital 12 de Octubre, a reference center in Madrid. “These types of events allow us to continue financing key projects to improve the diagnosis and treatment of cancer,” commented Garriga, who pointed out that all the proceeds obtained at the gala will be used to continue strengthening the FERO Foundation’s support for the Cancer Center of the 12 de Octubre Hospital.
“Every year the level is higher”
For his part, Rubén Ventura, general director of the FERO Foundation, also highlighted the increase in the level of the projects presented. «Every year, the level of candidates is higher and the competition is tighter. The jury discussion has been particularly tight in this edition, which reflects the growing talent of researchers in the oncological field.
In this edition, the scholarships are endowed with 80,000 euros each to carry out their translational research project over the course of two years.
Dr. Mate Maus, from the Vall d’Hebron Institut d’Oncologia (VHIO), has been selected in this edition for his project on early-onset colorectal cancer (EO-CRC). This type of neoplasia is increasing worryingly in people under 50 years of age, a group that is not traditionally considered in colonoscopy screening programs. As a consequence, these patients are often diagnosed in advanced stages of the disease, when treatment is more complicated. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop affordable and non-invasive methods to assess the risk of EO-CRC, so that individuals at highest risk can be identified and followed up early.
This project seeks to explore the relationship between age-related metabolic changes in the colon and the development of EO-CRC. «We know that some biological processes associated with aging, such as iron dyshomeostasis, could be accelerated in young people who develop this type of cancer. The central hypothesis is that those changes in iron metabolism in the colon microenvironment could favor the appearance of precancerous clones, which would accelerate the formation of tumors in younger people,” explains Dr. Maus.
The other winner at the Madrid gala was Dr. Ana Ruiz-Sáenz, Ikerbasque researcher at CIC BioGune, who was awarded the VI FERO-ghd Project in breast cancer, for her project to investigate how tumor glycosylation affects the efficacy of an antibody drug conjugate (ADC) , used in the treatment of HER2 positive breast cancer.
ADCs are revolutionizing cancer treatment by combining antibodies that identify tumor cells with drugs that destroy them. «These treatments are being used to combat different types of cancer, including HER2-positive breast cancer. In this type of cancer, ADCs are designed to target an essential protein on the surface of tumor cells, called HER2. This cell surface is highly glycosylated, that is, modified by sugars, and between this dense layer of sugars is HER2, the gateway for ADCs into the tumor cell.explains Dr. Ruiz-Sáenz.
32 projects presented
In this edition, 32 research projects have been presented, of which 22 were presented for the FERO Scholarship and 10 for the FERO-ghd Project
With this, there are now 15 years of experience, in which we have sought to promote the development of translational oncological research. In charge of this selection of projects is the jury of the FERO Calls, a group of 12 independent researchers of reference in the field of oncology in Spain. They are led by Dr. Andrés Cervantes, head of the Medical Oncology Service at the University Clinical Hospital of Valencia and president of the Scholarship jury, and include personalities such as Dr. Josep Tabernero, director of the Vall d’Hebron Institut d’ Oncology (VHIO); Dr. Akaitz Carracedo, Ikerbasque researcher at CIC bioGUNE; Dr. Luis Paz Ares, head of the Oncology Service of October 12; Dr. Ana Lluch, coordinator of the Breast Cancer Research Group at the INCLIVA Health Research Institute of Valencia, and Dr. Aleix Prat, head of Oncology at the Clínic de Barcelona.
[[H2:Dr. Mate Maus: «La clave está en los cambios en el metabolismo del hierro»]]
Dr. Mate Maus, from the Vall d’Hebron Institut d’Oncologia (VHIO), has been awarded 80,000 euros to help him in his research into early-onset colorectal cancer (EO-CRC).
The study will use different scientific approaches, such as analyzing tissue samples from patients and animal models, to observe how iron accumulates in the colon. Besides, The biological pathways that link alteration in iron metabolism with cancer growth will be investigated. Experiments will also be performed with cellular structures that mimic the behavior of the colon, to better understand how changes in iron levels affect the survival of normal and cancer cells. “If it is shown that changes in iron metabolism are related to the early development of colorectal cancer, it might be possible to develop a simple stool analysis to identify people at increased risk of EO-CRC2,” explains Maus.
[[H2:Dra. Ruiz-Sáez: «Estudiaremos a fondo cómo influye la glicosilación»]]
Dr. Ana Ruiz-Sáez was the other awarded researcher. She will allocate her 80,000 euros to study whether glycosylation, which is the process by which sugars are added to proteins, changes in cancer cells and plays an important role in tumor progression, influencing its growth, its ability to evade the immune system and its spread from cancer to other parts of the body. “These changes in the sugar layer surrounding tumor cells could also affect the binding and effectiveness of ADCs in these cells.” Based on previous studies, this project aims to understand how these changes in tumor glycosylation influence the effectiveness of therapies. To do this, we are going to alter the tumor glycosylation profile and analyze its impact on the effectiveness of ADCs using molecular techniques, 3D co-culture systems and animal models,” says Dr. Ruiz-Sáez.
