Biosketch Elena Élez

Elena Élez

meelez@vhio.net

Current position

Head of the Colorectal Cancer Group of the Vall d’Hebron Institute of Oncology (VHIO) 2023-present
Associate physician, Medical Oncology Department of the Vall d’Hebron Barcelona University Campus (HUVH) – 2007-present
Dr Élez is especially committed to teaching, having been a resident tutor since 2015 and a member of the Vall d’Hebron University Hospital’s Teaching Committee since 2018. She is a representative of the teaching committee for the autonomous community, and in 2020 she was awarded the research accreditation from the Catalan University Quality Assurance Agency. Since 2018, she has coordinated the +MIR section of the Spanish Society of Medical Oncology. Dr Élez also worked on the design and implementation of the VHIO educational programme, and is currently chairperson of the clinical research area of the VHIO Academy.

Academic training

Dr Élez graduated from the University of Lleida (UdL) in 2002 with a Bachelor of Science in Medicine. Between 2003 and 2007 she then did her residency in the Medical Oncology Department of Bellvitge University Hospital – Catalan Institute of Oncology-Duran y Reynals Hospital (ICO L’Hospitalet), where she started to specialise.
In 2010, she completed a Master’s in Molecular Oncology at the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO).
In 2015, she was awarded a PhD Cum Laude in Medicine and Surgery from the Autonomous University of Barcelona with her thesis entitled “New therapies in refractory metastatic colorectal cancer: the role of medication that interferes with the MET pathway and integrins”, and supervised by Dr Josep Tabernero.
In 2020, she completed the Executive Master in Healthcare Organisation Leadership at Barcelona’s ESADE Business School.

RESEARCH AREAS

Dr Élez’s main research focus is new therapies and the identification of colon cancer biomarkers. Her contribution to the development of the typing and molecular classification of colorectal cancer based on a gene expression analysis and the mutational profile of the tumour stands out. This research has been key to the consolidation of the VHIO Colorectal Cancer Group, led by Dr Josep Tabernero, as a reference group in colorectal cancer research. Her work is considered a national and international benchmark in the development of a research programme for colorectal cancer with the BRAFV600E mutation and microsatellite instability.

Prizes and Grants

Prize for the Best Young Researcher from the Catalan Institute of Health (ICS) – 2018
PERIS grant for further training for professionals with specialist health training – 2019.
Spanish Association against Cancer grant for senior clinical researchers – 2019.
Merck research grant to study colorectal cancer with microsatellite instability – 2018.

Projects

Biomarker indentification in patients with BRAF mutant metastatic colorectal cancer to guide treatment strategy and overcome primary/adquired restances to BRAF Inhibior-targeted agents (BRAFsistance). Fundación CRIS. 05/01/2024-04/30/2029
Exploring the feasibility of predictive and pharmacodynamics biomarkers of immunotherapy in solid tumours (Immune4ALL). Carlos III Health Institute 01/01/2023 31/12/2025
A precision medicine trial leveraging blood-based tumour genomics to optimise treatment in operable stage iii and high-risk stage ii colon cancer patients – the Sagittarius Trial. Horizon Europe 01/07/2023 30/06/2028
Multi-target approach including anti-angiogenic agent to overcome treatment resistance in BRAF mutant metastatic colorectal setting. Carlos III Health Institute 01/01/2022 31/12/2025
Implementation of minimally invasive methods for the dynamic evaluation of primary and acquired mechanisms of resistance and response to targeted therapies in BRAF V600E mutated colorectal cancer Digestive Tumour Treatment Group (TTD) 03/01/2022 – 02/28/2024
Identification and validation of mechanisms of resistance and response to targeted therapies in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer with BRAFV600E mutation CRIS Cancer Foundation 12/01/2021 11/31/2024
Identification and validation of sensitivity signatures and mechanisms of resistance and response to targeted therapies and immunotherapy in patients with advanced colorectal cancer Carlos III Health Institute 01/01/2021 31/12/2023
BioPrinted hydROgel MicrofluIdicS to mimic patient-specific tumour mEtastatic (PROMISE) La Caixa Foundation 01/12/2020 – 30/11/2023
Moving liquid biopsy beyond current applications: a prospective study of prognostic and predictive values of circulating tumour DNA in metastatic colorectal cancer. MaratóTV3 Foundation 01/06/2020 – 31/01/2024
OPTIMISTIC: OPportunity To Investigate the Microbiome’s Impact on Science and Treatment In Colorectal Cancer – Grand Challenge Cancer Research UK. 01/01/2019-01/01/2024.
Minimally invasive and non-invasive methods for the early detection and/or progression of colorectal cancer, including the prognostic and predictive study of circulating tumour DNA in advanced disease. Spanish Association Against Cancer 01/12/2019-01/12/2023.
Impact of longitudinal monitoring in stage III and advanced colorectal cancer by means of a personalised molecular signature in liquid biopsy Department of Health of the Government of Catalonia. 01/07/2019-01/07/2022.
Identification of genomic patterns and response to treatment in patients with advanced colorectal cancer and microsatellite instability (MSI), and comparison with clinical genomic characteristics and response to treatment of patients with hypermutated colorectal tumours without MSI Merck Farma y Química, S.L. 06/01/2018-06/01/2021.
Early detection of relapses in stage III colon cancer patients by longitudinally following a personalised molecular signature from a blood TRANSCAN – Carlos III Health Institute – Spanish Association against Cancer. 01/01/2018-31/12/2020.
New technologies: Plasma exome and transcriptome sequencing of paired samples to identify markers of sensitivity/resistance to targeted therapies in mCRC Carlos III Health Institute 01/01/2018- 31/12/2020.
Establishment of patient-derived tumour organoids to identify mechanisms of acquired resistance to treatment and to determine optimal resistant-overcoming combinations in metastatic colorectal cancer patients Spanish Association Against Cancer. 01/12/2016-30/11/2019.
Identification of prognostic molecular profiles in patients operated on for liver metastasis of colorectal adenocarcinoma and their potential applicability beyond classic clinicopathological factors (SEOM Foundation). 01/02/2016-31/12/2018.
Clinical research and development of response biomarkers in colorectal and digestive cancer (CIBER) Carlos III Health Institute 01/2017-12/2017.

Most important scientific publications:

Dasari A, Lonardi S, Garcia-Carbonero R, Elez E, Yoshino T, Sobrero A, Yao J, García-Alfonso P, Kocsis J, Cubillo Gracian A, Sartore-Bianchi A, Satoh T, Randrian V, Tomasek J, Chong G, Paulson AS, Masuishi T, Jones J, Csőszi T, Cremolini C, Ghiringhelli F, Shergill A, Hochster HS, Krauss J, Bassam A, Ducreux M, Elme A, Faugeras L, Kasper S, Van Cutsem E, Arnold D, Nanda S, Yang Z, Schelman WR, Kania M, Tabernero J, Eng C; FRESCO-2 Study Investigators. Fruquintinib versus placebo in patients with refractory metastatic colorectal cancer (FRESCO-2): an international, multicentre, randomised, double-blind, phase 3 study. Lancet. 2023 Jul 1;402(10395):41-53.
Prager GW, Taieb J, Fakih M, Ciardiello F, Van Cutsem E, Elez E, Cruz FM, Wyrwicz L, Stroyakovskiy D, Pápai Z, Poureau PG, Liposits G, Cremolini C, Bondarenko I, Modest DP, Benhadji KA, Amellal N, Leger C, Vidot L, Tabernero J; SUNLIGHT Investigators. Trifluridine-Tipiracil and Bevacizumab in Refractory Metastatic Colorectal Cancer. N Engl J Med. 2023 May 4;388(18):1657-1667.
Strickler JH, Cercek A, Siena S, André T, Ng K, Van Cutsem E, Wu C, Paulson AS, Hubbard JM, Coveler AL, Fountzilas C, Kardosh A, Kasi PM, Lenz HJ, Ciombor KK, Elez E, Bajor DL, Cremolini C, Sanchez F, Stecher M, Feng W, Bekaii-Saab TS; MOUNTAINEER investigators. Tucatinib plus trastuzumab for chemotherapy-refractory, HER2-positive, RAS wild-type unresectable or metastatic colorectal cancer (MOUNTAINEER): a multicentre, open-label, phase 2 study. Lancet Oncol. 2023 May;24(5):496-508.
Ros J, Matito J, Villacampa G, Comas R, Garcia A, Martini G, Baraibar I, Saoudi N, Salvà F, Martin Á, Antista M, Toledo R, Martinelli E, Pietrantonio F, Boccaccino A, Cremolini C, Dientsmann R, Tabernero J, Vivancos A, Elez E. Plasmatic BRAF-V600E allele fraction as a prognostic factor in metastatic colorectal cancer treated with BRAF combinatorial treatments. Ann Oncol. 2023 Jun;34(6):543-552.
Elez E, Ros J, Fernández J, Villacampa G, Moreno-Cárdenas AB, Arenillas C, Bernatowicz K, Comas R, Li S, Kodack DP, Fasani R, Garcia A, Gonzalo-Ruiz J, Piris-Gimenez A, Nuciforo P, Kerr G, Intini R, Montagna A, Germani MM, Randon G, Vivancos A, Smits R, Graus D, Perez-Lopez R, Cremolini C, Lonardi S, Pietrantonio F, Dienstmann R, Tabernero J, Toledo RA. RNF43 mutations predict response to anti-BRAF/EGFR combinatory therapies in BRAFV600E metastatic colorectal cancer. Nat Med. 2022 Oct;28(10):2162-2170. doi: 10.1038/s41591-022-01976-z. Epub 2022 Sep 12. PMID: 36097219; PMCID: PMC9556333.
Strickler JH, Cercek A, Siena S, André T, Ng K, Van Cutsem E, Wu C, Paulson AS, Hubbard JM, Coveler AL, Fountzilas C, Kardosh A, Kasi PM, Lenz HJ, Ciombor KK, Elez E, Bajor DL, Cremolini C, Sanchez F, Stecher M, Feng W, Bekaii-Saab TS; MOUNTAINEER investigators. Tucatinib plus trastuzumab for chemotherapy-refractory, HER2-positive, RAS wild-type unresectable or metastatic colorectal cancer (MOUNTAINEER): a multicentre, open-label, phase 2 study. Lancet Oncol. 2023 May;24(5):496-508. doi: 10.1016/S1470-2045(23)00150-X. PMID: 37142372.
Linares J, Sallent-Aragay A, Badia-Ramentol J, Recort-Bascuas A, Méndez A, Manero-Rupérez N, Re DL, Rivas EI, Guiu M, Zwick M, Iglesias M, Martinez-Ciarpaglini C, Tarazona N, Varese M, Hernando-Momblona X, Cañellas-Socias A, Orrillo M, Garrido M, Saoudi N, Elez E, Navarro P, Tabernero J, Gomis RR, Batlle E, Pisonero J, Cervantes A, Montagut C, Calon A. Long-term platinum-based drug accumulation in cancer-associated fibroblasts promotes colorectal cancer progression and resistance to therapy. Nat Commun. 2023 Feb 10;14(1):746. doi: 10.1038/s41467-023-36334-1. PMID: 36765091; PMCID: PMC9918738.
Elez E, Ros J, Tabernero J. Seeking therapeutic synergy in BRAF mutant colorectal cancer. Nat Med. 2023 Feb;29(2):307-308. doi: 10.1038/s41591-022-02192-5. PMID: 36721074.
Elez E, Baraibar I. Immunotherapy in colorectal cancer: an unmet need deserving of change. Lancet Oncol. 2022 Jul;23(7):830-831. doi: 10.1016/S1470-2045(22)00324-2. Epub 2022 May 27. PMID: 35636443.
Diaz LA Jr, Shiu KK, Kim TW, Jensen BV, Jensen LH, Punt C, Smith D, Garcia-Carbonero R, Benavides M, Gibbs P, de la Fourchardiere C, Rivera F, Elez E, Le DT, Yoshino T, Zhong WY, Fogelman D, Marinello P, Andre T; KEYNOTE-177 Investigators. Pembrolizumab versus chemotherapy for microsatellite instability-high or mismatch repair-deficient metastatic colorectal cancer (KEYNOTE-177): final analysis of a randomised, open-label, phase 3 study. Lancet Oncol. 2022 May;23(5):659-670. doi: 10.1016/S1470-2045(22)00197-8. Epub 2022 Apr 12. PMID: 35427471; PMCID: PMC9533375.
Siena S, Di Bartolomeo M, Raghav K, Masuishi T, Loupakis F, Kawakami H, Yamaguchi K, Nishina T, Fakih M, Elez E, Rodriguez J, Ciardiello F, Komatsu Y, Esaki T, Chung K, Wainberg Z, Sartore-Bianchi A, Saxena K, Yamamoto E, Bako E, Okuda Y, Shahidi J, Grothey A, Yoshino T; DESTINY-CRC01 investigators. Trastuzumab deruxtecan (DS-8201) in patients with HER2-expressing metastatic colorectal cancer (DESTINY-CRC01): a multicentre, open-label, phase 2 trial. Lancet Oncol. 2021 Jun;22(6):779-789. doi: 10.1016/S1470-2045(21)00086-3. Epub 2021 May 4. PMID: 33961795.
Andre T, Amonkar M, Norquist JM, Shiu KK, Kim TW, Jensen BV, Jensen LH, Punt CJA, Smith D, Garcia-Carbonero R, Sevilla I, De La Fouchardiere C, Rivera F, Elez E, Diaz LA Jr, Yoshino T, Van Cutsem E, Yang P, Farooqui M, Le DT. Health-related quality of life in patients with microsatellite instability-high or mismatch repair deficient metastatic colorectal cancer treated with first-line pembrolizumab versus chemotherapy (KEYNOTE-177): an open-label, randomised, phase 3 trial. Lancet Oncol. 2021 May;22(5):665-677. doi: 10.1016/S1470-2045(21)00064-4. Epub 2021 Apr 1. PMID: 33812497.
Subbiah V, Lassen U, Élez E, Italiano A, Curigliano G, Javle M, de Braud F, Prager GW, Greil R, Stein A, Fasolo A, Schellens JHM, Wen PY, Viele K, Boran AD, Gasal E, Burgess P, Ilankumaran P, Wainberg ZA. Dabrafenib plus trametinib in patients with BRAF^V600E-mutated biliary tract cancer (ROAR): a phase 2, open-label, single-arm, multicentre basket trial. Lancet Oncol. 2020 Sep;21(9):1234-1243. doi: 10.1016/S1470-2045(20)30321-1. Epub 2020 Aug 17. PMID: 32818466.
Le DT, Kim TW, Van Cutsem E, Geva R, Jäger D, Hara H, Burge M, O’Neil B, Kavan P, Yoshino T, Guimbaud R, Taniguchi H, Elez E, Al-Batran SE, Boland PM, Crocenzi T, Atreya CE, Cui Y, Dai T, Marinello P, Diaz LA Jr, André T. Phase II Open-Label Study of Pembrolizumab in Treatment-Refractory, Microsatellite Instability-High/Mismatch Repair-Deficient Metastatic Colorectal Cancer: KEYNOTE-164. J Clin Oncol. 2020 Jan 1;38(1):11-19. doi: 10.1200/JCO.19.02107. Epub 2019 Nov 14. PMID: 31725351; PMCID: PMC7031958.
André T, Shiu KK, Kim TW, Jensen BV, Jensen LH, Punt C, Smith D, Garcia-Carbonero R, Benavides M, Gibbs P, de la Fouchardiere C, Rivera F, Elez E, Bendell J, Le DT, Yoshino T, Van Cutsem E, Yang P, Farooqui MZH, Marinello P, Diaz LA Jr; KEYNOTE-177 Investigators. Pembrolizumab in Microsatellite-Instability-High Advanced Colorectal Cancer. N Engl J Med. 2020 Dec 3;383(23):2207-2218. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa2017699. PMID: 33264544.
Elez E, Pericay C, Valladares-Ayerbes M, Bando I, Safont MJ, Gallego J, Grávalos C, Arrivi A, Carrato A, Conde V, Ortiz MJ, López C, Alonso B, Ruiz de Mena I, Díaz-Rubio E, Tabernero J, Aranda E. A phase 2 study of panitumumab with irinotecan as salvage therapy in chemorefractory KRAS exon 2 wild-type metastatic colorectal cancer patients. Br J Cancer. 2019 Aug;121(5):378-383. doi: 10.1038/s41416-019-0537-z. Epub 2019 Jul 31. PMID: 31363167; PMCID: PMC6738054.
Hyman DM, Puzanov I, Subbiah V, Faris JE, Chau I, Blay JY, Wolf J, Raje NS, Diamond EL, Hollebecque A, Gervais R, Elez-Fernandez ME, Italiano A, Hofheinz RD, Hidalgo M, Chan E, Schuler M, Lasserre SF, Makrutzki M, Sirzen F, Veronese ML, Tabernero J, Baselga J. Vemurafenib in Multiple Nonmelanoma Cancers with BRAF V600 Mutations. N Engl J Med. 2015 Aug 20;373(8):726-36. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa1502309. Erratum in: N Engl J Med. 2018 Oct 18;379(16):1585. PMID: 26287849; PMCID: PMC4971773.

Curriculum Summary

Dr. Elena Élez has been a specialist in Medical Oncology at Vall d’Hebron Hospital in Barcelona since 2007. She is also the principal investigator of the clinical and translational research program for colon cancer at the Vall d’Hebron Institute of Oncology (VHIO), linked to the Gastrointestinal and Neuroendocrine Tumors Unit led by Dr. Josep Tabernero. Since joining the hospital, Dr. Élez has participated as principal and sub-investigator in multiple clinical studies in all phases of development, primarily focused on her main line of research, new therapies and identification of biomarkers in colon cancer. In particular, her contribution to the development of molecular typing and classification of colorectal cancer based on gene expression analysis and mutational profiling of the tumor, which has been crucial in consolidating VHIO’s gastrointestinal tumors group as a benchmark in colorectal cancer research, made possible one of the institution’s most relevant collaborative projects at European level.

The researcher is considered to be a national and international reference in the development of research against colorectal cancer with BRAFV600E mutation and microsatellite instability. This is a type of tumor that affects around 10% of all patients with colorectal cancer and is characterized by a particularly poor prognosis and high molecular complexity. Thanks to the research led by Dr. Élez, which has developed new targeted therapies for this type of tumor and helped identify resistance factors, the VHIO has consolidated its position as a reference center for this type of disease. This has led to a significant increase in terms of scientific production in high-impact publications, including three publications in The New England Journal of Medicine in 2015, 2019 and 2020, respectively. Dr. Élez’s research has also brought about the adoption of an extensive program based on liquid biopsy, a technique that allows the DNA representative of the tumor circulating free in plasma (cfDNA) to be analyzed by means of a blood sample. The aim of this research program is to study the predictive and prognostic value of cfDNA present in blood, in addition to the identification of possible biomarkers.

Currently, Dr. Élez is principal investigator of three competitive research projects within the framework of the EraNET JTC 2016, AECC 2018 and La Marató de TV3 Foundation 2018 programs. Also worthy of mention is the PROMISE project (“la Caixa”, Health Research Call 2019), in which Dr. Élez is leading the VHIO/Vall d’Hebron team. Together with teams from INL (International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory) and IBEC, they are working to develop a microfluidic system that mimics the tumor microenvironment.

In recognition of her research work, Dr. Élez was given the Best Young Researcher Award by the Catalan Institute of Health in 2018 and was awarded a PERIS grant for specialized health training. She was also the winner of an AECC grant for senior clinical researchers so that she might further her research career.

In the area of teaching, during 2020 Dr. Élez worked on the design and integration of VHIO’s educational program. This program aims to ensure the professional and academic development of clinical and basic researchers, as well as all workers involved in the care of cancer patients, and the dissemination of knowledge in the community itself, as established by the European Cancer Mission.

The VHIO Academy is part of the institution’s strategic plan and is an important factor in its search for excellence. At present Dr. Élez is supervising four doctoral theses nearing completion and has been a resident tutor since 2015. She is the medical specialties representative on the center’s teaching committee and coordinator of the resident training section of the Spanish Society of Medical Oncology (SEOM). In addition, she has coordinated the research module in the official tutor course of the SEFSE-AREDA foundation since 2019 and has actively participated in research projects for teaching that have been presented in national and international conferences.