Translational cancer research lab

The relationship between cancer and inflammation is important from a clinical point of view, probably because the interaction of the immune system with tumor cells could lead to disease progression and reduced therapeutic response. In this context, Gasdermin B expression (GSDMB; gene located close to HER2 oncogene) associates to metastasis, poor prognosis and reduced therapy response in HER2-positive breast cancer and in gastric tumors. It is worth noting that this gene has also been associated to several inflammatory diseases. The main objective of this project is to decipher the dual functional role of GSDMB as a marker of poor clinical prognosis and its implication in the genesis/progression of cancer, especially in relation to the inflammatory response in breast and gastrointestinal cancer. Thus, we propose a multidisciplinary project combining: a) translational studies in cancer patient samples with breast and digestive tumors, especially in those with previous history of inflammatory lesions, b) in vitro approaches (cancer cell lines genetically modified with and without GSDMB expression). Finally, we will explore the potential role of GSDMB as new therapeutic target using different targeted therapies. Therefore, this project sets the basis for functionally validating GSDMB role in cancer, specially its applicability for the stratification of patients with adverse clinical prognosis.