Research

Area 5

Biological markers in oncology.

Team leader

Strategic objectives

The activity of the group is fundamentally circumscribed to the setting of applied clinical research, and takes place in collaboration with different clinical groups both within and outside the Barcelona Clinic Hospital.

Main lines of research


  1. Circulating tumor markers. Development of new techniques for the study of biological markers, which are the peripheral expression of the presence of malignant tumors. Study of the usefulness of proPSA in the diagnosis of prostate cancer. Evaluation of new tumor markers such as: ProGRP (progastrin releasing peptide), of use in undifferentiated small cell lung carcinoma, epididymal protein HE4, of great interest in ovarian cancer; andthymidine kinase for lung tumors. Comparison of the clinical application of the isoforms of squamous cell carcinoma-associated antigen, and evaluation of the S-100 isoforms and their implication in the study of malignant melanoma.
  2. Consolidation of diagnostic guides to the clinical use of tumor markers. Collaboration with European and North American groups for establishing consensus and publishing clinical guides. Diffusion of these guides at national level through the Cancer Biological Markers Commission, created by members of the group, within the scientific committee of the Spanish Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Pathology.
  3. Incorporation of a quantitative technique for the detection of circulating cells of epithelial tumors (CECs), and improvement of the methods to obtain, separate and quantify them based on the detection of mRNA encoding for cytokeratin-19. Evaluation of the clinical interest of this methodology in application to breast and prostate neoplasms. Study of mutations of oncogenes and suppressor genes based on PCR-SSCP techniques (ras and p53), and p16 and p14 methylation studies.
  4. Collaboration in the colon and rectal cancer population screening program through the detection of occult blood in stools. During the last year over 15,000 asymptomatic individuals have been analyzed.
  5. Development of a software application for establishing risk in patients with symptoms suggestive of lung cancer, assessing risk based on the determination of 6 tumors markers, with orientation regarding the histological type (small cell or non-small cell carcinoma). In process of license obtainment for diffusion.
  6. Investigation of cytokine involvement in cancer development and progression. We are consolidating research into the clinical usefulness of cytokines in cancer patients. This line is preferentially developed in hematological and urological neoplasms.
  7. Markers used in pharmacogenetics. Study of the genetic polymorphisms implicated in metabolism and pharmacological targets. This line is particularly focused on predicting the safety and efficacy of antineoplastic drugs. During the last year we have developed high performance genotyping techniques, such as minisequencing-SBE.