Brain Metastasis Group

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Post-Doctoral Fellows

  • Mariam Al-Masmudi
  • Lluis Cordón
  • Neibla Priego

Graduate Students

  • Laura Adriana Álvaro
  • Jimena Benzal
  • Ana De Pablos
  • Pedro García
  • Carolina Hernández
  • Irene Salgado
  • Juan José Vázquez

Technicians

  • Patricia Baena
  • Jorge Guillermo Ortiz
  • Diana Patricia Retana
  • Oliva Ana Sánchez
  • Catalina Vela

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 and patient-derived material in order to challenge the current status of this unmet clinical need.

Publications

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