Fighting the most aggressive melanoma

Fátima Gebauer Hernández

Centre de Regulació Genòmica (CRG), Spain

Cutaneous melanoma is the only tumor in which very shallow lesions present a great potential for metastasis. Currently there are no biomarkers that indicate the risk of the tumor spreading in patients with melanoma.

Scientists have observed that a family of proteins that control the activity of genes, known as RNA binding proteins, could have a major impact on cancer progression, including metastasis and immunosuppression. These proteins have not been tested systematically for cancer in the past.

This project aims to identify RNA binding proteins important for metastasis, and better understand the molecular processes that they control in cutaneous melanoma. The aim is to make available new biomarkers responsible for the spread of the tumor and to design new therapies for the most advanced stages of the cancer.

• Maria Soengas (Co-Leader), Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Oncológicas (CNIO), Spain

• Santiago Ramón y Cajal, Fundació Hospital Universitari Vall d'Hebron Institut de Recerca (VHIR), Spain

Exploiting post-transcriptional regulation to uncover novel vulnerabilities of metastasic cells

€499,980