Brain Metastasis Group

Manuel Valiente Group Leader
T +34 (+34) 917 328 000 (Ext 3530)
mvaliente@cnio.es

Post-Doctoral Fellows

Mariam Al-Masmudi
Neibla Priego

Graduate Students

Laura Adriana Álvaro
Ana De Pablos
Pedro García
Pablo Sanz
Lucía Zhu

Technicians

María Isabel García
Diana Patricia Retana

Brain metastasis is the most common neurological complication of cancer. When metastatic cells reach the brain, prognosis is poor given that local therapies (i.e. surgery and radiation) have limited benefits for patients and the disease inevitably progresses. The rise in the number of patients with brain metastasis is partially due to the increasing number of systemic therapies that work extra-cranially but that are unable to provide the same therapeutic benefit in the brain. Consequently, cancer cells present at this secondary site have additional time to evolve and to grow into clinically detectable lesions. In the laboratory, we study how cells from different cancer types (breast cancer, lung cancer and melanoma) are able to access the brain, survive and colonise this vital organ. We dissect the biology of these processes in vivo using experimental models in order to challenge the current status of this unmet clinical need.

Publications

Ramón Y Cajal S, Sancho P, Soucek L, Peinado H, Abad M, Valiente M, Efeyan A, Pardo J, Quesada V, Jimeno J, Duque PM, Antón A, Varela I, Schuhmacher AJ (2020). A spotlight on cancer researchers in Spain: new paradigms and disruptive ideas. Clin Transl Oncol 22, 798-801. CNIO Publication.
Boire A, Brastianos PK, Garzia L, Valiente M (2020). Brain metastasis. Nat Rev Cancer 20, 4-11. CNIO Publication.
de Pablos-Aragoneses A, Valiente M (2020). An Inbred Ecosystem that Supports Medulloblastoma.. Immunity 52, 431-433. CNIO Publication.
Valiente M, Van Swearingen AED, Anders CK, Bairoch A, Boire A, Bos PD, Cittelly DM, Erez N, Ferraro GB, Fukumura D, Gril B, Herlyn M, Holmen SL, Jain RK, Joyce JA, Lorger M, Massague J, Neman J, Sibson NR, Steeg PS, Thorsen F, Young LS, Varešlija D, Vultur A, Weis-Garcia F, Winkler F (2020). Brain Metastasis Cell Lines Panel: A Public Resource of Organotropic Cell Lines. Cancer Res (in press). CNIO Publication.
García-Gómez P, Valiente M (2020). Vascular Co-Option in Brain Metastasis. ANGIOGENESIS 23, 3-8. CNIO Publication.
Wingrove E, Liu ZZ, Patel KD, Arnal-Estapé A, Cai WL, Melnick MA, Politi K, Monteiro C, Zhu L, Valiente M, Kluger HM, Chiang VL, Nguyen DX (2019). Transcriptomic Hallmarks of Tumor Plasticity and Stromal Interactions in Brain Metastasis. Cell Reports 27, 1277-1292. CNIO Publication. Open Access
Priego N, Valiente M (2019). The Potential of Astrocytes as Immune Modulators in Brain Tumors.. Front Inmmunol 10, 1314. CNIO Publication. Open Access
Er EE, Valiente M, Ganesh K, Zou Y, Agrawal S, Hu J, Griscom B, Rosenblum M, Boire A, Brogi E, Giancotti FG, Schachner M, Malladi S, Massagué J (2019). Author Correction: Pericyte-like spreading by disseminated cancer cells activates YAP and MRTF for metastatic colonization. Nat Cell Biol 21, 480. CNIO Publication.
Ramón Y Cajal S, Sancho P, Soucek L, Peinado H, Abad M, Valiente M, Efeyan A, Pardo J, Quesada V, Jimeno J, Duque PM, Antón A, Varela I, Schuhmacher AJ (2019). A spotlight on cancer researchers in Spain: new paradigms and disruptive ideas. Clin Transl Oncol (in press). CNIO Publication.
Er EE, Valiente M, Ganesh K, Zou Y, Agrawal S, Hu J, Griscom B, Rosenblum M, Boire A, Brogi E, Giancotti FG, Schachner M, Malladi S, Massagué J (2018). Pericyte-like spreading by disseminated cancer cells activates YAP and MRTF for metastatic colonization. Nat Cell Biol 20, 966-978. CNIO Publication.
Mustafa DAM, Pedrosa RMSM, Smid M, van der Weiden M, de Weerd V, Nigg AL, Berrevoets C, Zeneyedpour L, Priego N, Valiente M, Luider TM, Debets R, Martens JWM, Foekens JA, Sieuwerts AM, Kros JM (2018). T lymphocytes facilitate brain metastasis of breast cancer by inducing Guanylate-Binding Protein 1 expression. Acta Neuropathol 135, 581-599. CNIO Publication.
Verdura S, Cuyàs E, Llorach-Parés L, Pérez-Sánchez A, Micol V, Nonell-Canals A, Joven J, Valiente M, Sánchez-Martínez M, Bosch-Barrera J, Menendez JA (2018). Silibinin is a direct inhibitor of STAT3. Food Chem Toxicol 116, 161-172. CNIO Publication.
Preusser M, Winkler F, Valiente M, Manegold C, Moyal E, Widhalm G, Tonn JC, Zielinski C (2018). Recent advances in the biology and treatment of brain metastases of non-small cell lung cancer: summary of a multidisciplinary roundtable discussion. ESMO OPEN 3, e000262. CNIO Publication.
Valiente M, Ahluwalia MS, Boire A, Brastianos PK, Goldberg SB, Lee EQ, Le Rhun E, Preusser M, Winkler F, Soffietti R (2018). The Evolving Landscape of Brain Metastasis. Trends in Cancer 4, 176-196. CNIO Publication.
Priego N, Zhu L, Monteiro C, Mulders M, Wasilewski D, Bindeman W, Doglio L, Martínez L, Martínez-Saez E, Cajal SRY, Megías D, Hernández-Encinas E, Blanco-Aparicio C, Martínez L, Zarzuela E, Muñoz J, Fustero-Torres C, Pineiro E, Hernández-Laín A, Bertero L, Poli V, Sánchez-Martínez M, Menendez JA, Soffietti R, Bosch-Barrera J, Valiente M (2018). STAT3 labels a subpopulation of reactive astrocytes required for brain metastasis. Nat Med 24, 1024-1035. CNIO Publication.
Bartolini G, Sánchez-Alcañiz JA, Osório C, Valiente M, García-Frigola C, Marín O (2017). Neuregulin 3 Mediates Cortical Plate Invasion and Laminar Allocation of GABAergic Interneurons. Cell Reports 18, 1157-1170. CNIO Publication. Open Access
Wasilewsky D, Priego N, Fustero-Torre C, Valiente M (2017). Reactive Astrocytes in Brain Metastasis. Front Oncol 7, 298. CNIO Publication.
Chen Q, Boire A, Jin X, Valiente M, Er EE, Lopez-Soto A, Jacob LS, Patwa R, Shah H, Xu K, Cross JR, Massagué J (2016). Carcinoma-astrocyte gap junctions promote brain metastasis by cGAMP transfer.. Nature 533, 493-498. Publication in other institutions.