Portal de Murcia
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Through the web Precipita, platform specialized in collective subsidy of science, of the Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology (FECyT), researchers from the Hematology and Clinical-Experimental Oncology group seek funding to study the most frequent digestive tumors: colon cancer, stomach cancer, and pancreatic cancer.
The objective is to examine the mechanisms by which metastasis occurs and to develop new drugs that allow to increase the survival of patients.
In particular, the protein hepsin will be studied in depth and its relationship with metastasis and thrombosis.
Last year 109,425 people died of cancer in Spain, which represents 27% of the total deaths, being the first cause of death in men and the second in women.
One in 10 patients with cancer dies from a thrombosis associated with it, which means that approximately 11,000 people die annually from this cause in Spain.
"Identifying new targets involved in thrombosis associated with cancer can develop drugs that allow prevention and treatment in a personalized way," explains Irene Martinez.
In this sense, the objectives will be: to analyze the levels of hepsin in biopsies of digestive tumors to design specific therapeutic strategies against it;
investigate the inhibitors of it to evaluate its effectiveness in tumor cells and animal models;
and investigate the anti-tumor role of antithrombin, capable of controlling hepsin when activated by heparin.
Hepsin is a protein involved in tumor progression capable of activating the coagulation cascade, so high levels could increase the risk of thrombosis;
On the other hand, to prevent the latter, the most commonly used drug is heparin.
The project has set a minimum of € 3,000 and an optimum of € 25,000.
If the basic sum is achieved, the study of hepsin in biopsies can be addressed, as well as the development of inhibitors and testing in cells;
On the other hand, when it reaches the optimal level, it will be possible to investigate the selected inhibitors in mice and to make an array of expression, a technique that allows to massively study the expression of the genes of the cells in order to identify additional targets;
as well as paying for general services and publications.
Finally, if the marked money is exceeded, they can hire predoctoral personnel.
Specifically, in order to achieve the support of FECyT since Precipita, a series of requirements must be fulfilled: having been or being Principal Investigator of a national project obtained through competitive competition and having articles published as first author or senior author in indexed journals.
The members of this emerging group are: Irene Martínez Martínez, Ginés Luengo, Salvador Espín, Alberto Carmona, Andrés Nieto, Nataliya Bohdan, Alberto Martínez and Julia Peñas.
Project link:
https://www.precipita.es/proyecto/metastasis-y-trombosis-de-tumores-digestivos.html
Source: Universidad de Murcia
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