About the VHIR
Here at the Vall d'Hebron Research Institute (VHIR) we promote biomedical research, innovation and teaching. Over 1,800 people are seeking to understand diseases today so the treatment can be improved tomorrow.
Research
We are working to understand diseases, to find out how they operate and to create better treatments for patients. Get to know about our groups and their lines of research.
People
People are the centre of the Vall d'Hebron Research Institute (VHIR). This is why we are bound by the principles of freedom of research, gender equality and professional attitudes that HRS4R promotes.
Clinical trials
Our work is not just basic or translational; we are leaders in clinical research. Enter and find about the clinical trials we are conducting and why we are a world reference in this field.
Progress
Our aim is to make the research carried out at the Vall d’Hebron Research Institute (VHIR) a driving force for transformation. How? By identifying new channels and solutions for the promotion of people's health and well-being.
Core facilities
We offer specialist support for researchers, internal and external alike, ranging from specific services to preparing complete projects. All this, from a perspective of quality and speed of response.
News
We offer you a gateway for staying up to date on everything going on at the Vall d’Hebron Research Institute (VHIR), from the latest news to future solidarity activities and initiatives that we are organising.
The Biomedical Research in Urology group is interested in the study of hormone-dependent cancers, in particular prostate cancer (but not limited to it).
Our efforts are focused on finding, on the one hand, tools that help us in the early diagnosis of the disease, in the best differentiation of tumors according to their aggressiveness and their response to therapy, and finally in finding effective therapies against it.
From a molecular point of view, we focus our studies mainly on cell signaling processes related to the cell cycle and mitosis (with kinesins, kinases and ubiquitin ligases as main targets).
Our multidisciplinary group is made up of molecular biologists and urologists, and we collaborate with oncologists, pathologists and specialists in other diseases when required.
We work with in silico data obtained with different "omics" techniques, samples and clinical data from patients, in vitro and in vivo models, to answer the questions raised.
All the above strategies leading to the discovery of new biomarkers, are validated in specifically designed tissue microarrays using immuno-histochemistry in FFPE samples from radical prostatectomies.
IP: Inés de Torres Ramirez
Prostate cancer (PC) is the second leading cause of death for cancer in men of the western Countries. While considerable advances have been made in the treatment of localized, organ-confined tumors, metastatic PC is virtually incurable and most deaths from this disease are due to the high resistance of metastasis to conventional therapies (androgen-depletion-therapy, ADT). Therefore, more precise markers for the detection of the incipient resistant tumor and more effective targets that eliminate the resistant clones are needed.
A principal aim is to identify relevant molecular pathways specifically active in aggressive prostate cancer, useful for an early detection of ADT resistant tumors and for treatment strategies.
In our studies, we have discovered the human Prostate Tumor OVerexpressed-1 (PTOV1) gene, later called Acid-2, and a second gene with a PTOV module, PTOV2, later called MED25, a component of Mediator (1-2).
The detection of PTOV1 in high-grade PIN (HGPIN) premalignant lesions is helpful to identify patients with higher probability to develop PC (3). PTOV1 ectopic expression promotes proliferation, invasion and metastasis of ADT resistant cells (1,2,4,5). PTOV1 induces the epithelial-mesenchymal-transition (EMT) and increased metastasis of PC3 cells (4). Mechanistically, PTOV1 is implicated in multiple processes controlling cell fate: it promotes mRNA translation leading to a specific increased synthesis of c-Jun and Snai1 oncogenes (4), and it is a transcriptional repressor of HES1 and HEY1 genes, leading to inhibition of Notch signalling in metastatic PC (5). PTOV1 significantly affect the self-renewal potential of the cancer stem cell populations of PC3 cells (5).
Current objectives of our line of research are: (i) Determine the role of PTOV1 in the resistance to ADT and chemotherapy (taxols). (ii) Characterize the sub-clonal cancer stem cell populations (CSC) present in metastatic primary tumors and the genes and factors responsible for the development of the resistance to ADT.
1) Benedit P, et al. Oncogene 2001;20:1455–1464.
2) Santamaria A, et al. Am J Pathol 2003;162:897–905.
3) Morote J, et al. Clin Cancer Res 2008:14:2617-2622.
4) Marqués N, et al. Oncogene 2014;33(9):1124-34.
5) Alaña L et al., Mol Cancer 2014;13:74.
IP: -
Research team:
Dr. Antonio Gil-Moreno (Principal researcher)
Dr. Assumpció Pérez-Benavente (Clinical associated investigator)
Dr. José Lúís Sánchez Iglesias (Clinical associated investigator)
Dra. Silvia Cabrera (Clinical associated investigator)
Dr. Vicente Bebia Conesa (Clinical associated investigator)
Dr. Natalia Rodríguez Gómez-Hidalgo (Clinical associated investigator)
Dr. Javier de la Torre Fernández de Vega (Clinical associated investigator)
Dr. José Luís Poza Barrasús (Clinical associated investigator)
Dr. Sabina Salicrú Riera (Clinical associated investigator)
Dr. Laura Mañalich Barrachina (Clinical associated investigator)
Dr. Montse Cubo Albert (Clinical associated investigator)
Dr. Cristina Centeno Mediavilla (Clinical associated investigator)
Dr. Melissa Bradbury (Clinical associated investigator)
Dr. Sonia Monreal (Clinical associated investigator)
Dr. Angel García (Clinical associated investigator)
Dr. Armando Reques (Clinical associated investigator)
Dr. Elena Suárez (Clinical associated investigator)
Dr. Mireia Armengol (Clinical associated investigator/resident)
Dra. Eva Colás (Translational associated researcher)
Dr. Melek Denizli (Technician)
Research focus. Clinical Research Lines
CLINICAL ENDOMETRIAL CANCER RESEARCH
- Prospective, randomized study: STELLA1-2 Trial: Transperitoneal vs. Extraperitoneal Approach for Laparoscopic Staging of Endometrial/Ovarian Cancer. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT01810874.
- Implementation of radioguided surgery for clinically occult lesions (ROLL) in abdominal recurrences of gynecological tumors.
- MULTISENT study: Ambiespective multicenter study of sentinel node biopsy in initial endometrial cancer.
- Concordance study between morphological techniques and OSNA (one-step nucleic cid amplification) for the detection of lymph node metastases in endometrial carcinoma.
- Preoperative staging of endometrial carcinoma by ultrasound 2D and 3D.
CLINICAL OVARIAN CANCER RESEARCH
- Prospective study: Postoperatory Recovery in Advanced Ovarian Cancer, Fast-Track Protocol vs. Classical Management (PROFAST). ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02172638.
- EDMOCS study in ovarian cancer.
- SIMACEO study: Current Situation of the Management of Epithelial Cancer of the Ovary in initial stages in Spain.
CLINICAL CERVICAL CANCER RESEARCH
- Prospective study of validation of sentinel lymph node detection technique in early cervical cancer (FIGO 2018 stages IA2-IB1-IB2-IIA1).
- Collaborating center in the RACC Trial study (PI: Karolynska Hospital, Sweden): International, Prospective, Randomized comparative study of robotic versus laparotomic radical hysterectomy approach in early cervical cancer.
- Validation of robotic assisted and laparoscopic aortic extraperitoneal lymphadenectomy in recurrences of gynaecologic malignancies.
- Preoperative staging of carcinoma of the uterine cervix by ultrasound 2D and 3D.
CLINICAL RESEARCH IN BENIGN GYNECOLOGY
- Prospective study: Multicentric Comparative Randomized Study of the Single-incision Sling Ajust® Versus Suburethral Transobturator Slings. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT01699425
- “A 3 Years Naturalistic Cohort Survey Of Altis® Single Incision Sling System For Female Stress Urinary Incontinence. A post-marketing and multicenter prospective observational cohort study in subjects with female stress urinary incontinence”.
- "Non-interventional study to evaluate quality of life, satisfaction with treatment, use of resources and persistence in treatment in patients with overactive bladder (OAB) who were prescribed Betmiga".
- “Comparative study of polyvinylidene fluoride and polypropylene suburethral-slings in the treatment of female stress urinary incontinence.”
- “Microarray analysis of differentially expressed genes in samples from patients with pelvic organ prolapse.”
Estudio EME: “Estudio epidemiológico sobre la miomatosis uterina en España”.
CLINICAL RESEARCH: MISCELLANEOUS
Prospective study of validation of sentinel lymph node detection technique in early vulvar cancer (early stages FIGO 2009)
- Prospective study of quality of life in patients with BRCA1-2 after risk-reducing adnexectomy.
- Prospective study of quality of life in patients with BRCA1-2 after risk-reducing mastectomy.
- Early detection of preneoplastic tubal lesions to delay ovarian cancer risk-reducing surgery in patients with BRCA1/2 mutations.
- Prospective, multicenter study for the evaluation of the intraoperative HPV test.
- INCIP Study: Cancer in pregnancy
- Randomized, open, multicentric, parallel group and control group clinical trial to evaluate the effect of PAPILOCARE® in the normalization of cytological alterations of the cervix caused by HPV (PALOMA II Clinical Trial).
- Cervical epithelium methylation as a risk marker of progression to HSIL in women with normal cytology and positive HPV.
- Conservative management of high-risk cervical intraepithelial lesions.
- Utility of DySIS® in the diagnosis and management of intraepithelial lesions of the lower genital tract.
- Breast Cancer During Pregnancy (BRCAPRE). ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02102282.
IP: Antonio Gil Moreno
Dr. Melissa Bradbury (Principal researcher)
Dr. Cristina Centeno (Clinical associated investigator)
Dr. Carme Dinarés (Clinical associated investigator)
Dr. Josep Castellví (Clinical associated investigator)
Dr. Angel Garcia (Clinical associated investigator)
Research focus
NEW MARKERS FOR THE DIAGNOSIS AND PROGRESSION OF INTRAEPITHELIAL NEOPLASIA OF THE LOWER GENITAL TRACT
Persistent infections with high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) genotypes are necessary, but not sufficient, cause of preinvasive and invasive lesions of the cervix and the lower genital tract. Although cancer screening prevention is based on HPV screening and pap-smear tests, it is essential to identify new molecular markers that can predict the transformation of HPV-associated lesions.
In this research line our group is assessing: Identification of molecular markers associated to an increased risk of development, persistence and progression of preinvasive lesions of the lower genital tract.
IP: Melissa Bradbury Lobato
On World Cancer Research Day, we highlight research aimed at improving treatments for both pediatric and adult cancers through innovative techniques.
The work led by Dr. Regis demonstrates that performing robotic reconstruction after radical prostatectomy is associated with better urinary control.
A clinical trial with the prototype of the device shows that the use of this technology improves patient monitoring by nurses and reduces post-surgical complications.
