Genitourinary Cancer

Research group

Group Leader

Josep Lloreta Trull

Prostate cancer is the most common non-cutaneous cancer in men, and urinary bladder cancer is the fourth most common overall in both sexes. In addition to their prevalence, there are specific features of their respective natural histories that make them two of the cancers that generate some of the highest economic costs and they are associated with high morbidity rates, thus both have a significant impact on patients’ quality of life and on health care costs. These are two different models of carcinogenesis, reflecting diverse aspects of cancer biology. Two major pathways with different molecular, pathological and clinical profiles are well known in bladder cancer. A further advance relies on the identification of several specific molecular subclasses similar to those identified in breast cancer. Also in prostate cancer, the relatively unpredictable behavior of the disease appears to be related to different molecular subfamilies, namely, the complex subset of translocation-associated tumors, and the as yet poorly defined miscellaneous group of tumors not related to gene rearrangements. Furthermore, in both tumors, it has been suggested that inflammatory and immunological responses may be involved in their initiation and progression and these are regarded as new avenues for therapeutic intervention. In both tumors, there is a high demand for markers of early diagnosis, follow-up, and response to therapy, as well as for new therapeutic targets and for parameters that allow a more personalized management of patients. Our objectives are to identify genetic signatures that may be involved in the transition from a hypothetical latent phase to a clinically significant phase, as well as markers of progression and advanced disease, in order to better understand the natural history of bladder and prostatic carcinoma and to design adequate treatment strategies for early detection, monitoring, treatment stratification, and follow-up, tailored for the personalized management of each patient.

Members

Joaquim Bellmunt Molins (Researcher)

Lluís Cecchini Rosell (Researcher)

Albert Francés Comalat (Researcher)

Lluís Fumadó Ciutat (Researcher)

Silvia Hernández Llodrà (Researcher)

Núria Juanpere Rodero (Researcher)

Gloria Nohales Taurines (Researcher)

Marta Lorenzo Pérez (Technician)

Main Publications

• Kanesvaran R, Saux OL, Motzer R, Choueiri TK, Scotté F, Bellmunt J, Launay-Vacher V. Elderly patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma: position paper from the International Society of Geriatric Oncology. Lancet Oncol 2018; 19(6): e317-e326. IF 36.418. D1.

• Bellmunt J, Nadal R. Urothelial cancer in 2017: Changes in expectations for metastatic urothelial carcinoma. Nat Rev Clin Oncol 2018; 15(2): 73-74. IF 24.653. D1.

• Rodríguez-Vida A, Pérez-Gracia JL, Bellmunt J. Immunotherapy Combinations and Sequences in Urothelial Cancer: Facts and Hopes. Clin Cancer Res 2018; 24(24): 6115-6124. IF 10.199. D1.

• Bellmunt J, Lalani AA, Jacobus S, Wankowicz SA, Polacek L, Takeda DY, Harshman LC, Wagle N, Moreno I, Lundgren K, Bossé D, Van Allen EM, Choueiri TK, Rosenberg JE. Everolimus and pazopanib (E/P) benefit genomically selected patients with metastatic urothelial carcinoma. Br J Cancer 2018; 119(6): 707-712. IF 5.922. Q1.

• Castelló A, Boldo E, Amiano P, Castaño-Vinyals G, Aragonés N, Gómez-Acebo I, Peiró R, Jiménez-Moleón JJ, Alguacil J, Tardón A, Cecchini L, Lope V, Dierssen-Sotos T, Mengual L, Kogevinas M, Pollán M, Pérez-Gómez B, MCC-Spain researchers. Mediterranean dietary pattern is associated to low risk of aggressive prostate cancer: MCC-Spain study. J Urol 2018; 199(2): 430-437. IF 5.381. Q1.

• Sonpavde GP, Mariani L, Lo Vullo S, Raggi D, Giannatempo P, Bamias A, Crabb SJ, Bellmunt J, Yu EY, Niegisch G, Vaishampayan UN, Theodore C, Berthold DR, Srinivas S, Sridhar SS, Plimack ER, Rosenberg JE, Powles T, Galsky MD, Necchi A. Impact of the number of cycles of platinum-based first-line chemotherapy for advanced urothelial carcinoma. J Urol 2018; 200(6): 1207-1214. IF 5.381. Q1.

• Baena-Díez JM, Subirana I, Ramos R, Gómez de la Cámara A, Elosua R, Vila JS, Marín-Ibáñez A, Guembe MJ, Rigo F, Tormo-Díaz MJ, et al. Evaluación de la validez de las funciones SCORE de bajo riesgo y calibrada para población española en las cohortes FRESCO. Rev Esp Cardiol 2018; 71(4): 274-282. IF 5.166. Q1.

• Mena M, Taberna M, Tous S, Márquez S, Clavero O, Quiros B, Lloveras B, Alejo M, León X, Quer M, Bagué S, Mesia R, Nogués J, Gomà M, Águila A, Bonfill T, Blázquez C, Guix M, Hijano R, Torres M, Holzinger D, Pawlita M, Pavón MA, Bravo IG, de Sanjosé S, Bosch FX, Alemany L. Double positivity for HPV-DNA/p16ink4a is the biomarker with strongest diagnostic accuracy and prognostic value for human papillomavirus related oropharyngeal cancer patients. Oral Oncol 2018; 78: 137-144. IF 4.636. D1.

• Subirana I, Fitó M, Díaz O, Vila JS, Francés A, Delpon E, Sanchis J, Elosua R, Muñoz D, Degano IR, Marrugat J. Prediction of coronary disease incidence by biomarkers of inflammation, oxidation, and metabolism. Sci Rep 2018; 8(1): 3191. IF 4.122. Q1.

• Guitart M, Lloreta J, Mañas-García L, Barreiro E. Muscle regeneration potential and satellite cell activation profile during recovery following hindlimb immobilization in mice. J Cell Physiol 2018; 233(5): 4360-4372. IF 3.923. Q1.

Ongoing Research Projects

• Identificación prospectiva de predictores biológicos al tratamiento con inhibidores de PD-1/PD-L1 en cáncer de vejiga avanzado y cáncer de próstata avanzado resistente a la castración.

- Financing institution: Fondo de Investigación Sanitaria. ISCIII (PI16/00112)

- Period: from 2017 to 2019

- Principal investigator: Bellmunt Molins, Joaquim

• Validación clínica y mecanismos de acción de las alteraciones moleculares con valor predictivo de progresión en el cáncer de próstata: algoritmo molecular de la carcinogénesis prostática.

- Financing institution: Fondo de Investigación Sanitaria. ISCIII (PI15/00452)

- Period: from 2016 to 2019

- Principal investigator: Lloreta Trull, Josep

Group’s Recognitions

• Officially recognised as a consolidated research group by the Generalitat de Catalunya: Grup de Recerca en Càncer Urològic (GRECU) (2017-2020)

- Agència de Gestió d’Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca (SGR 275)

- Principal investigator: Lloreta Trull, Josep

Clinical Trials Signed in 2018

• Estudio de fase III, aleatorizado y abierto para evaluar la eficacia y la seguridad de pembrolizumab (MK-3475) más epacadostat frente al tratamiento de referencia (sunitinib o pazopanib) para el tratamiento de primera línea del carcinoma renal

- Register: MK-3475-679/ECHO-302