CRIS OUT-BACK PROGRAMME 2021
Melanoma is a very aggressive type of skin cancer experienced by more than 6000 people a year in Spain. It is the most aggressive skin tumour and most often metastasises. If metastasis occurs, in general treatments are based on attacking weak points in the tumour cells by means of targeted therapies. However, not all patients respond to these treatments. Over the past decade, the emergence of various immunotherapy strategies has achieved benefits in melanoma patients never seen before. Unfortunately, a significant number of patients do not respond to these treatments.
It is essential to understand why some melanoma patients respond well to immunotherapy while others do not. Determining this would allow clinicians to make a more informed choice regarding appropriate therapies for each patient, or even design strategies to improve the effects of immunotherapy in patients who, a priori, would not benefit from it.
The Project:
Dr Rebeca González will develop a project in which they will study the tumour cells of melanoma resistant to targeted therapies. The objective is to identify the mechanism by which some of these cells may also evade immunotherapy treatments. The ultimate aim is to identify mechanisms that can be attacked by means of drugs that would make those melanoma susceptible to immunotherapy, thereby achieving effective treatments for patients who would otherwise have very few options of recovery.