Cancer is the leading cause of death in children and adolescents in developed countries. While advanced cell therapies have transformed treatment, for some types of blood cancers and solid tumours there are no efficient CAR-T cell approaches available.
There is an urgent need for innovative and disruptive ideas that analyse in depth the differential biology of paediatric tumours and propose new paradigms for cure, based on accurate diagnoses and effective, specific treatments in the context of multicentre clinical trials. We aim to develop cutting-edge research with direct clinical impact to improve childhood cancer prognosis by minimising side effects through the development of novel therapies or the refinement of existing ones.
Our research lines include:
The use of haematopoietic stem cell transplantation as a platform for cell therapy.
The improvement of human stem cell progenitors transplantation.
The use of memory T lymphocytes as adoptive immunotherapy.
The use of both activated, memory-like NK Cells and CAR T cells in paediatric oncology.
The study of the efficacy and feasibility of cell therapy against infectious diseases.
The induction of immunological tolerance in solid organ transplantation by mixed chimerism through cell therapy.
Recent publications
Mestre-Durán C, León-Triana O, Bareke H, Pertíñez L, Clares-Villa L, Bueno D, Lozano-Ojalvo D, Navarro-Zapata A, Sisinni L, Badell-Serra I, González-Vicent M, Beléndez C, Palomo-Moraleda P, Mozo Y, Galán V, Artázcoz MF, Echecopar C, Gasior M, Al-Akioui K, Cano-Ochando J, Guerra-García P, Fernández-Santos ME, Aguirre-Portolés C, Pérez-Martínez A. (2025).Ex Vivo IL-15-Stimulated NK Cells as Adoptive Cell Therapy in Haploidentical Transplantation for Pediatric Leukemia. Am J Hematol 100, 1898-1901. CNIO Publication.
Ramírez MJ, Pujol R, Minguillón J, Bogliolo M, Persico I, Cavero D, de la Cal A, Río P, Navarro S, Casado JA, Bailador A, de la Fuente AS, de Heredia ML, Almazán F, Antelo ML, Argilés B, Badell I, Baragaño M, Beléndez C, Bermúdez M, Bernués M, Buedo MI, Carrasco E, Català A, Costa D, Cuesta I, Fernandez-Delgado R, Fernández-Teijeiro A, Figuera Á, García M, Gondra A, González M, Muñiz SG, Hernández-Rodríguez I, Ibañez F, Kelleher NJ, Lendínez F, López M, López-Almaraz R, Marchante I, Mendoza C, Nieto J, Ojeda E, Payán-Pernía S, Peláez I, de Soto IP, Portugal R, Ramos-Arroyo MA, Regueiro A, Rodríguez A, Rosell J, Saez R, Sánchez J, Sánchez M, Senent M, Tapia M, Trujillo-Quintero JP, Vagace JM, Verdú-Amorós J, Verdugo V, Vidales I, Villarreal J, Díaz-de-Heredia C, Sevilla J, Bueren JA, Surrallés J. (2025).Prognostic significance of mutation type and chromosome fragility in Fanconi anemia. Am J Hematol 100, 272-284. CNIO Publication.
González-Martínez B, Galán-Gómez V, Navarro-Zapata A, Mirones-Aguilar I, Cobo M, Pernas-Sánchez A, Vallejo S, Sánchez-Zapardiel E, León-Triana O, Echecopar C, Martínez-Romera I, Guerra-García P, San Román-Pacheco S, Escudero A, Izquierdo E, Izquierdo M, Naharro S, Martín-Ayuso A, Bareke H, París-Muñoz A, Hu P, Schneider D, Orentas RJ, Minguillón J, Pérez-Martínez A. (2025).Tandem CD19/CD22 CAR T-cells as potential therapy for children and young adults with high-risk r/r B-ALL. EBioMedicine 118, 105872. CNIO Publication.
Radke K, Aaltonen K, Muciño-Olmos EA, Esfandyari J, Adamska A, Siaw JT, Adamic D, Lago C, Mañas A, Seger A, Hansson K, Rogova O, Lehn S, Mason DJ, O'Donovan DJ, Roberts I, Lock A, Brennan J, Pietras K, Davies EJ, Spégel P, Bedoya-Reina OC, Brown D, Thompson NT, Spadoni C, Bexell D. (2025).Repurposing statins and phenothiazines to treat chemoresistant neuroblastoma. EMBO Mol Med (in press). CNIO Publication.
Tirado N, Fidyt K, Mansilla MJ, Garcia-Perez A, Martínez-Moreno A, Vinyoles M, Alcain J, García-Peydró M, Roca-Ho H, Fernandez-Fuentes N, Guerrero-Murillo M, Falgàs A, Velasco-Hernandez T, Bueno C, Panelli P, Mulens-Arias V, Apostolov A, Engel P, González EA, Vick B, Jeremias I, Caye-Eude A, Baruchel A, Cavé H, Genescà E, Ribera J, Díaz-Beyá M, Martínez-Sánchez MV, Fuster JL, Escudero López A, Minguillón J, Pérez-Martínez A, Ramírez-Orellana M, Torrebadell M, Díaz VM, Toribio ML, Sánchez-Martínez D, Menéndez P. (2025).CAR-T cells targeting CCR9 and CD1a for the treatment of T cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia. J Hematol Oncol 18, 69. CNIO Publication.
París-Muñoz A, Alcobendas-Rueda RM, Verdú-Sánchez C, Udaondo C, Galán-Gómez V, González-Martínez B, Menéndez JJ, Martínez-Romera I, Minguillón J, Pertíñez L, de Manuel-Gómez C, de la Cruz-Benito A, Sanz-Rupérez A, Remesal A, Cámara C, Sánchez-Zapardiel E, Del Pino-Molina L, Gómez-Zamora A, Serrano-Olmedo MG, Español-Rego M, Ruiz de Valbuena M, Climent F, Dorao P, Ríos-Blanco JJ, Andrade JD, Ruiz-Zurita G, Fernández-García MA, Pérez-Martínez A. (2025).CD19 CAR-T cell therapy in a pediatric patient with MDA5+ dermatomyositis and rapidly progressive interstitial lung disease. Med 6, 100676. CNIO Publication.
Chen Z, Inague A, Kaushal K, Fazeli G, Schilling D, Xavier da Silva TN, Dos Santos AF, Cheytan T, Freitas FP, Yildiz U, Viviani LG, Lima RS, Pinz MP, Medeiros I, Iijima TS, Alegria TGP, Pereira da Silva R, Diniz LR, Weinzweig S, Klein-Seetharaman J, Trumpp A, Mañas A, Hondal R, Bartenhagen C, Fischer M, Shimada BK, Seale LA, Chillon TS, Fabiano M, Schomburg L, Schweizer U, Netto LE, Meotti FC, Dick TP, Alborzinia H, Miyamoto S, Friedmann Angeli JP. (2024).PRDX6 contributes to selenocysteine metabolism and ferroptosis resistance. Mol Cell (in press). CNIO Publication.
Hernández-Blanco C, Al-Akioui-Sanz K, Herrera L, Aguirre-Portolés C, Lozano-Ojalvo D, Pérez-Rodriguez L, Cano-Ochando J, Guerra-García P, Martín-Quirós A, Vicario JL, Santos S, Pérez-Vaquero MÁ, Vesga MÁ, Borobia AM, Carcas AJ, Balas A, Moreno MÁ, Pérez de Diego R, Gasior M, Soria B, Eguizabal C, Pérez-Martínez A. (2024).The phase I RELEASE clinical trial to evaluate the safety of NK cells in COVID-19. iScience 28, 111698. CNIO Publication.
Mingot-Castellano ME, García-Donas G, Campos-Álvarez RM, de Mora MCF, Luis-Navarro J, Domínguez-Rodríguez JF, Del Mar Nieto-Hernández M, Sánchez-Bazán I, Yera-Cobo M, Cardesa-Cabrera R, Jiménez-Gonzalo FJ, Caparrós-Miranda I, Entrena-Ureña L, Herrera SJ, Fernández Jiménez D, Díaz-Canales D, Moreno-Carrasco G, Calderón-Cabrera C, Núñez-Vázquez RJ, Pedrote-Amador B, Jiménez Bárcenas R; Grupo Andaluz de Coagulopatías (GACC). (2024).Use of Eltrombopag to Improve Thrombocytopenia and Tranfusion Requirement in Anti-CD19 CAR-T Cell-Treated Patients. J Clin Med 13, 6294. CNIO Publication.
