Gastrointestinal Tumours

Coordinator: Gabriel Capellá / Co-coordinator: Josep Tabernero

This program is primarily focused on two of the neoplastic typologies with the greatest social impact due to their high mortality rate and aggressiveness: colon cancer and pancreatic cancer.

Colon cancer is the most common cancer in Spain and the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths. The survival of patients with this type of cancer depends on the stage at diagnosis, with survival rates not exceeding 20% in stage IV cases. On the other hand, pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma is one of the most aggressive cancers, ranking as the fourth leading cause of cancer-related deaths, despite accounting for only 10% of gastrointestinal tumors.

Recognizing the significant technological and scientific advancements that have occurred in recent years in diagnosing and treating these diseases, there are still significant clinical challenges to be addressed.

This program combines the potential of 9 research groups of internationally recognized prestige to deepen our understanding of the (epi)genomic characteristics of neoplastic cells and their interaction with the tumor microenvironment in order to improve clinical stratification, both in patients with mutations predisposing them to the development of these cancers and in patients who have already developed the disease.

Program objective:

• Clinical stratification of malignant digestive tract tumors based on the (epi)genomic characteristics of neoplastic cells and the tumor microenvironment.

Groups: