Prostate Cancer Research Group

The development of new drugs and therapeutic strategies for advanced prostate cancer is the main objective of our Group. We combine clinical trials with molecular correlative studies, following a bench-to-bedside-and-back research approach. Investigator-initiated clinical trials play a key role in our strategy, serving as a platform for correlative studies that help optimize the drug development pathway for prostate cancer patients.

We integrate expertise from clinical research, molecular biology, genomics, transcriptomics, computational sciences, and clinical data to advance precision medicine for prostate cancer patients. Our team includes medical oncologists, biomedical scientists specializing in cancer biology, genomics, and transcriptomics, as well as experts in bioinformatics, liquid biopsy, and clinical data.

To support this effort, we have established a platform for collecting longitudinal biospecimens from patients with advanced prostate cancer, including both tumor tissue and liquid biopsies. These samples allow us to study the evolving nature of the disease and generate patient-derived laboratory models, which we use to investigate new therapeutic strategies in the lab.

Our clinical trial portfolio spans the entire disease continuum, with a focus on early phase trials of new compounds and biology-driven therapeutic options. Investigator-initiated clinical studies are central to our research strategy, providing a platform for correlative studies. We currently serve as the central laboratory for two academic multi-center clinical trials and manage the sample repository for IRONMAN; an international initiative to build a large clinical and biospecimen database from patients with metastatic prostate cancer.

The main lines of research include: 1) understanding how prostate cancers adapt to systemic therapies, with a focus on the cell cycle and DNA damage response regulation; 2) developing novel tissue and liquid biopsy molecular characterization approaches for improved patient stratification; and 3) identifying prognostic and predictive biomarkers to guide more precise treatment decisions. To achieve these goals, we study in-vitro and in-vivo models, including patient-derived xenografts (PDX) from the patients participating in our clinical studies. We study genomics and transcriptomics of clinical biospecimens, with a focus on ctDNA and tumor-derived extracellular vesicles. Additionally, we leverage both in-house and publicly available clinic-genomic databases.

We have also launched HOPE-Prostate, a collaborative project with the SOLTI Group and Spanish prostate cancer medical societies. This initiative empowers metastatic prostate cancer patients to undergo molecular testing. To facilitate this, we developed an interactive platform integrating next-generation sequencing (NGS) of tumor samples and liquid biopsy data with patient self-reported clinical data. As part of our initiative, we study patient perspectives on the value of NGS analysis, gaining insights into their perception of treatment recommendations made by a panel of specialists. In the first year of the project, we recruited over 100 patients.

Our research is generously funded by grants from the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP), the Spanish Ministry of Health, CRIS Cancer Foundation, Asociación Española Contra el Cáncer – AECC (Spanish Association Against Cancer), FERO Foundation, and ”la Caixa” Foundation. We also have joint projects with biotech and pharmaceutical industry partners for the development of novel therapeutic strategies.

To accelerate progress, we embrace team science. We actively participate in collaborations that pool resources and expertise across multiple research groups worldwide.

In summary, our research integrates different modalities of clinical and translational research aiming to improve the outcomes for patients with prostate cancer.