The Tumour Biology Programme (TBP) has been created to promote excellent integrative research in a highly collaborative manner–—within our Programme, among CNIO Research Groups, and across the National Health System
Francisco X. Real
The Tumour Biology Programme comprises 8 Groups whose strategy shares a concern about understanding cancer development at an organismal level. We aim to investigate how different components of the host interact among themselves and with the tumour as it develops: from initiation to metastasis. For this, we make extensive use of genetic mouse models. Our studies span across multiple tumour types, including melanoma (María S. Soengas), pancreatic cancer (Francisco X. Real, Mariano Barbacid, Alejo Efeyan), liver cancer (Guadalupe Sabio), breast cancer (Eva González-Suárez), lung cancer (Mariano Barbacid, María Casanova, Manuel Valiente), bladder cancer (Francisco X. Real), and lymphoma (Alejo Efeyan), among others. We study aspects related to the control of cell identity, host and tumour metabolism, inflammation and cancer immunity, and the biology of metastases, with one of the Groups focusing specifically on the mechanisms involved in brain metastases (Manuel Valiente). An additional common approach includes interrogating the relevance of our experimental studies by analysing samples from patients; several Groups are involved in prospective observational, diagnostic, or therapeutic clinical trials in collaboration with major Hospitals in Spain. The TBP Group Leaders have been founding members of important translational research consortia, including RENACER and ALIPANC networks.
The TBP Groups are, or have recently been, recipients of competitive grants from highly esteemed agencies including the European Research Council (StG, CoG, and AdvG), ”la Caixa” Foundation, The Mark Foundation for Cancer Research, and the U.S. National Institutes of Health, among others. In addition, the TBP members have contributed to the creation of spin-offs leveraging their scientific discoveries.