"Interrogating the transcriptome to treat mutant KRAS cancers: how far can we get?"

Abstract:

In lung cancer and in intestinal-tract tumors such as pancreatic cancer, colorectal cancer and cholangiocarcinoma, KRAS is the most widely mutated gene and an undisputable therapeutic target. Unfortunately, the vast majority of mutant KRAS-driven cancers remain refractory to current clinical therapies. Thus, a deeper understanding of the molecular mechanisms triggered by KRAS oncogene may yield alternative strategies to neutralize KRAS-mediated effects. In this seminar, I will describe the identification of central transcriptional nodes with functional relevance to KRAS oncogenesis as well as the discovery of transcriptional signatures that set the ground to unveil new therapeutic strategies to treat mutant KRAS tumors.

Bio:

Silve Vicent graduated from the University of Navarra in Pamplona (Spain), where he later obtained his doctoral degree in the characterization of the MAPK family and its negative feed-back regulators in lung cancer. He then took a postdoctoral position at the Center for Applied Medical Research (CIMA), where he studied the cellular and molecular mechanisms implicated in lung cancer metastasis to bone. After two years, he moved to Alejandro Sweet-Cordero?s lab at Stanford University. There he developed innovative RNAi-based, functional-genomics approaches and generated new genetically-engineered mouse models of lung cancer to identify synthetic lethal interactions in KRAS tumors and to investigate the role of tumor microenvironment in lung cancer.

In July 2012, Dr. Vicent joined the Program in Solid Tumors and Biomarkers at CIMA as a Ramon y Cajal investigator and as a fellow of the Marie Curie Program through a Career Integration Grant. Since 2014 he leads the Oncogenes and Effector Targets (OnTarget) group in CIMA and is also an Associated Lecturer at the University of Navarra. His laboratory is interested in identifying new molecular targets and discovering innovative therapeutic strategies for the treatment of mutant KRAS tumors.

He is a member of the Navarra Institute of Health (IdisNa), the Spanish Cancer Network CIBERONC, the European Pancreatic Cancer Organoid Group (Precode) and the European Network for the Study of Cholangiocarcinoma (ENSCCA).

Hosted by  María José Alonso

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