Brain Metastasis Group

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

Post-Doctoral Fellows

Mariam Al-Masmudi
Lluis Cordón
Neibla Priego

Graduate Students

Laura Adriana Álvaro
Ana De Pablos
Pedro García
Carolina Hernández
Irene Salgado

Technicians

Tania Arranz
Patricia Baena
Jorge Guillermo Ortiz
Diana Patricia Retana
Oliva Ana Sánchez

Visiting Scientist

Valentina Pieri

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 benefit 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 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 why and 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

Sanchez-Aguilera A, Masmudi-Martín M, Navas-Olive A, Baena P, Hernández-Oliver C, Priego N, Cordón-Barris L, Alvaro-Espinosa L, García S, Martínez S, Lafarga M; RENACER; Lin MZ, Al-Shahrour F, Menendez de la Prida L, Valiente M (2023). Machine learning identifies experimental brain metastasis subtypes based on their influence on neural circuits. Cancer Cell (in press). CNIO Publication.
Zheng D, Pisano F, Collard L, Balena A, Pisanello M, Spagnolo B, Mach-Batlle R, Tantussi F, Carbone L, De Angelis F, Valiente M, de la Prida LM, Ciracì C, De Vittorio M, Pisanello F. (2023). Toward Plasmonic Neural Probes: SERS Detection of Neurotransmitters through Gold-Nanoislands-Decorated Tapered Optical Fibers with Sub-10 nm Gaps. Adv Mater 35, e2200902. CNIO Publication.
Valiente M, Sepúlveda JM, Pérez A. (2023). Emerging targets for cancer treatment: S100A9/RAGE.. ESMO OPEN 8, 100751. CNIO Publication.
Zhu L, Miarka L, Baena P, Perea-García M, Valiente M. (2023). Protocol to generate murine organotypic brain cultures for drug screening and evaluation of anti-metastatic efficacy. Star Protocols 4, 102194. CNIO Publication.
Cátia Monteiro, Lauritz Miarka, María Perea-García, Neibla Priego, Pedro García-Gómez , Laura Álvaro-Espinosa, Ana de Pablos-Aragoneses, Natalia Yebra, Diana Retana, Patricia Baena, Coral Fustero-Torre, Osvaldo Graña-Castro, Kevin Troulé, Eduardo Caleiras, Patricia Tezanos, Pablo Muela, Elisa Cintado , José Luis Trejo, Juan Manuel Sepúlveda , Pedro González-León , Luis Jiménez-Roldán , Luis Miguel Moreno , Olga Esteban , Ángel Pérez-Núñez, Aurelio Hernández-Lain, José Mazarico Gallego, Irene Ferrer, Rocío Suárez, Eva M. Garrido-Martín, Luis Paz-Ares, Celine Dalmasso, Elizabeth Cohen-Jonathan Moyal, Aurore Siegfried, Aisling Hegarty, Stephen Keelan, Damir Varešlija, Leonie S. Young, Malte Mohme, Yvonne Goy, Harriet Wikman, Jose Fernández-Alén, Guillermo Blasco, Lucía Alcázar, Clara Cabañuz, Sergei I. Grivennikov, Andrada Ianus , Noam Shemesh, Claudia C. Faria, Rebecca Lee , Paul Lorigan , Emilie Le Rhun, Michael Weller, Riccardo Soffietti, Luca Bertero , Umberto Ricardi, Joaquim Bosch-Barrera , Elia Sais, Eduard Teixidor, Alejandro Hernández-Martínez, Alfonso Calvo, Javier Aristu, Santiago M. Martin, Alvaro Gonzalez, Omer Adler, Neta Erez, RENACER* and Manuel Valiente (2022). Stratification of radiosensitive brain metastases based on an actionable S100A9/RAGE resistance mechanism. Nat Med 28, 752-765. CNIO Publication.
Zheng D, Pisano F, Collard L, Balena A, Pisanello M, Spagnolo B, Mach-Batlle R, Tantussi F, Carbone L, De Angelis F, Valiente M, Prida L, Ciracì C, De Vittorio M, Pisanello F. (2022). Toward Plasmonic Neural Probes: SERS Detection of Neurotransmitters through Gold Nanoislands-decorated Tapered Optical fibers with sub-10 nm Gaps. Adv Mater (in press). CNIO Publication.
Zhu L, Retana D, García-Gómez P, Álvaro-Espinosa L, Priego N, Masmudi-Martín M, Yebra N, Miarka L, Hernández-Encinas E, Blanco-Aparicio C, Martínez S, Sobrino C, Ajenjo N, Artiga MJ, Ortega-Paino E, Torres-Ruiz R, Rodríguez-Perales S; RENACER, Soffietti R, Bertero L, Cassoni P, Weiss T, Muñoz J, Sepúlveda JM, González-León P, Jiménez-Roldán L, Moreno LM, Esteban O, Pérez-Núñez Á, Hernández-Laín A, Toldos O, Ruano Y, Alcázar L, Blasco G, Fernández-Alén J, Caleiras E, Lafarga M, Megías D, Graña-Castro O, Nör C, Taylor MD, Young LS, Varešlija D, Cosgrove N, Couch FJ, Cussó L, Desco M, Mouron S, Quintela-Fandino M, Weller M, Pastor J, Valiente M. (2022). A clinically compatible drug-screening platform based on organotypic cultures identifies vulnerabilities to prevent and treat brain metastasis. EMBO Mol Med 14, 14552. CNIO Publication.
Masmudi-Martín M, Zhu L, Sanchez-Navarro M, Priego N, Casanova-Acebes M, Ruiz-Rodado V, Giralt E, Valiente M. (2021). Brain metastasis models: What should we aim to achieve better treatments?. Adv Drug Deliver Rev 169, 79-99. CNIO Publication.
Zhu L, Retana D, García-Gómez P, Álvaro-Espinosa L, Priego N, Masmudi-Martín M, Yebra N, Miarka L, Hernández-Encinas E, Blanco-Aparicio C, Martínez S, Sobrino C, Ajenjo N, Artiga MJ, Ortega-Paino E, Torres-Ruiz R, Rodríguez-Perales S, RENACER, Soffietti R, Bertero L, Cassoni P, Weiss T, Muñoz J, Sepúlveda JM, González-León P, Jiménez-Roldán L, Moreno LM, Esteban O, Pérez-Núñez A, Hernández-Laín A, Toldos O, Ruano Y, Alcázar L, Blasco G, Fernández-Alén J, Caleiras E, Lafarga M, Megías D, Graña-Castro O, Nör C, Taylor MD, Young LS, Varešlija D, Cosgrove N, Couch FJ, Cussó L, Desco M, Weller M, Pastor J, Valiente M (2021). A drug-screening platform based on organotypic cultures identifies vulnerabilities to prevent local relapse and treat established brain metastasis. EMBO Mol Med (in press). CNIO Publication.
Pisano F, Kashif MF, Balena A, Pisanello M, De Angelis F, de la Prida LM, Valiente M, D'Orazio A, De Vittorio M, Grande M, Pisanello F (2021). Plasmonics on a neural implant: engineering light-matter interactions on the nonplanar surface of tapered. Adv Opt Mater (in press). CNIO Publication.
Álvaro-Espinosa L, de Pablos-Aragoneses A, Valiente M, Priego N. (2021). Brain Microenvironment Heterogeneity: Potential Value for Brain Tumors.. Front Oncol 11, 714428. CNIO Publication.
Jablonska PA, Bosch-Barrera J, Serrano D, Valiente M, Calvo A, Aristu J. (2021). Challenges and Novel Opportunities of Radiation Therapy for Brain Metastases in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer. Cancers 13, 2141. CNIO Publication.
Miarka L, Valiente M (2021). Animal models of brain metastasis. Neurooncol Adv 3, v144-v156. 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.
Pe?rez-Garci?a VM, Calvo GF, Bosque JJ, Leo?n-Triana O, Jime?nez J, Pe?rez- Beteta J, Belmonte-Beitia J, Valiente M, Zhu L, Garci?a-Go?mez P, Sa?nchez-Go?mez P, Herna?ndez-San Miguel E, Hortigu?ela R, Azimzade Y, Molina-Garci?a D, Marti?nez A, Acosta- Rojas A, Ortiz de Mendivil A, Valette F, Schucht P, Murek M, Pe?rez-Cano M, Albillo D, Honguero Marti?nez AF, Jime?nez London?o GA, Arana E, Garci?a Vicente AM (2020). Universal scaling laws rule explosive growth in human cancers.. Nat Phys 16, 1232-1237. 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 80, 4134-4323. CNIO Publication.
Vilariño N, Bruna J, Bosch-Barrera J, Valiente M, Nadal E (2020). Immunotherapy in NSCLC patients with brain metastases. Understanding brain tumor microenvironment and dissecting outcomes from immune checkpoint blockade in the clinic. Cancer Treat Rev 89, 102067. CNIO Publication.
García-Gómez P, Valiente M (2020). Vascular Co-Option in Brain Metastasis. ANGIOGENESIS 23, 3-8. 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 (2020). A spotlight on cancer researchers in Spain: new paradigms and disruptive ideas. Clin Transl Oncol 22, 798-801. CNIO Publication.
Valiente M*, de la Prida* (2020). Breaking down the wall: the strategic plan of cancer to conquer the brain.. Epilepsy Curr (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 (2019). Author Correction: Pericyte-like spreading by disseminated cancer cells activates YAP and MRTF for metastatic colonization. Nat Cell Biol 21, 480. 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
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.
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.
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.