Translational Research Group on Esophagogastric Cancer

Oncology Area


Our research group was established aiming to identify biomarkers to stratify patients diagnosed with gastric cancer according to their sensitivity to immunotherapy, as well as to generate a biobank of organoids as a tool for the analysis of the biological characteristics of each patient’s tumour and the screening of sensitivity to diverse therapies. Moreover, the group incorporates prevention among its objectives through the development and integration of tools for the identification of population at risk of developing gastric cancer, as well as understanding the risk factors and biological characteristics of gastric tumours, with special attention to young population.

Within this framework, current lines of research include:

  • Models for risk stratification of developing gastric cancer and the establishment of prevention strategies
  • Clinical, epidemiological, biological, and microbiome characteristics of gastric tumours in young patients
  • Immune microenvironment of advanced gastric cancer and mechanisms of resistance to immunotherapy
  • Generation of organoid models as a tool for personalized medicine strategies in gastric cancer


Coordinator
Dra. Tania Fleitas Kanonnikoff
tfleitas@incliva.es

RESEARCHERS
Leading, R4
Established, R3

Tania Fleitas Kanonnikoff    

Recognised/Emerging, R2

Josefa Castillo Aliaga
Fernández Moreno, Mari Carmen

First Stage, R1

Cabeza Segura, Manuel
Arturo González Vilanova
Aguilar Cifre, Alba

STAFF
Collaborating Researchers

Ricardo Gadea Mateo

Nurse
Technicians

Matteo Stocco

Administrative assistant
Publications
Definition, diagnosis and treatment of oligometastatic oesophagogastric cancer: a Delphi consensus study in Europe. Kroese T, van Laarhoven H, Schoppman S, Deseyne P, van Cutsem E, Haustermans K, Nafteux P, Thomas M, Obermannova R, Mortensen H, Nordsmark M, Pfeiffer P, Elme A, Adenis A, Piessen G, Bruns C, Lordick F, Gockel I, Moehler M, Gani C, Liakakos T, Reynolds J, Morganti A, Rosati R, Castoro C, Cellini F, D’Ugo D, Roviello F, Bencivenga M, de Manzoni G, van Berge Henegouwen M, Hulshof M, van Dieren J, Vollebergh M, van Sandick J, Jeene P, Muijs C, Slingerland M, Voncken F, Hartgrink H, Creemers G, van der Sangen M, Nieuwenhuijzen G, Berbee M, Verheij M, Wijnhoven B, Beerepoot L, Mohammad N, Mook S, Ruurda J, Kolodziejczyk P, Polkowski W, Wyrwicz L, Alsina M, Pera M, Kanonnikoff T, Cervantes A, Nilsson M, Monig S, Wagner A, Guckenberger M, Griffiths E, Smyth E, Hanna G, Markar S, Chaudry M, Hawkins M, Cheong E, van Hillegersberg R, van Rossum P. European Journal of Cancer. 2023 Feb 24;185:28-39. doi: 10.1016/j.ejca.2023.02.015. PMID: 36947929

How organoids can improve personalized treatment in patients with gastro-esophageal tumors. Cabeza-Segura M, Garcia-Micò B, La Noce M, Nicoletti GF, Conti V, Filippelli A, Fleitas T, Cervantes A, Castillo J, Papaccio F. Current Opinion in Pharmacology. 2023 Feb 23;69:102348. doi: 10.1016/j.coph.2023.102348. PMID: 36842387

In the Literature: january 2023. Martin-Arana J, Gambardella V, Tarazona N, Cejalvo JM, Cervantes A. ESMO Open. 2023 Jan 3;8(1):100763. doi: 10.1016/j.esmoop.2022.100763. PMID: 36603523

Proteotranscriptomic analysis of advanced colorectal cancer patient derived organoids for drug sensitivity prediction. Papaccio F, Garcia-Mico B, Gimeno-Valiente F, Cabeza-Segura M, Gambardella V, Gutierrez-Bravo MF, Alfaro-Cervello C, Martinez-Ciarpaglini C, Rentero-Garrido P, Zuniga-Trejos S, Carbonell-Asins JA, Fleitas T, Rosello S, Huerta M, Sanchez Del Pino MM, Sabater L, Roda D, Tarazona N, Cervantes A, Castillo J. Journal of Experimental & Clinical Cancer Research. 2023 Jan 6;42(1):8. doi: 10.1186/s13046-022-02591-z. PMID: 36604765

Study protocol for the OligoMetastatic Esophagogastric Cancer (OMEC) project: a multidisciplinary European consensus project on the definition and treatment for oligometastatic esophagogastric cancer. Kroese TE, van Rossum PSN, Nilsson M, Lordick F, Smyth EC, Rosati R, Nafteux P, D’Ugo D, Chaudry MA, Polkowkski W, Roviello F, Gockel I, Kolodziejczyk P, Haustermans K, Guckenberger M, Nordsmark M, Hawkins MA, Cervantes A, Fleitas T, van Cutsem E, Moehler M, Wagner AD, van Laarhoven HWM, van Hillegersberg R. European Journal of Surgical Oncology. 2023 Jan;49(1):21-28. doi: 10.1016/j.ejso.2022.09.012. PMID: 36184420

The Helicobacter pylori Genome Project: insights into H. pylori population structure from analysis of a worldwide collection of complete genomes. Thorell K, Munoz-Ramirez Z, Wang D, Sandoval-Motta S, Boscolo Agostini R, Ghirotto S, Torres R, Falush D, Camargo M, Rabkin C. Nature Communications. 2023 Dec 11;14(1):8184. doi: 10.1038/s41467-023-43562-y. PMID: 38081806

Definitions and treatment of oligometastatic oesophagogastric cancer according to multidisciplinary tumour boards in Europe. Kroese T, van Hillegersberg R, Schoppmann S, Deseyne P, Nafteux P, Obermannova R, Nordsmark M, Pfeiffer P, Hawkings M, Smyth E, Markar S, Hanna G, Cheong E, Chaudry A, Elme A, Adenis A, Piessen G, Gani C, Bruns C, Moehler M, Liakakos T, Reynolds J, Morganti A, Rosati R, Castoro C, D’Ugo D, Roviello F, Bencivenga M, de Manzoni G, Jeene P, van Sandick J, Muijs C, Slingerland M, Nieuwenhuijzen G, Wijnhoven B, Beerepoot L, Kolodziejczyk P, Polkowski W, Alsina M, Pera M, Kanonnikoff T, Nilsson M, Guckenberger M, Monig S, Wagner D, Wyrwicz L, Berbee M, Gockel I, Lordick F, Griffiths E, Verheij M, van Rossum P, van Laarhoven H, OMEC working group. European Journal of Cancer. 2022 Feb 5;164:18-29. doi: 10.1016/j.ejca.2021.11.032. PMID: 35134666

Gastric cancer: ESMO Clinical Practice Guideline for diagnosis, treatment and follow-up. Lordick F, Carneiro F, Cascinu S, Fleitas T, Haustermans K, Piessen G, Vogel A, Smyth E. Annals of Oncology. 2022 Oct;33(10):1005-1020. doi: 10.1016/j.annonc.2022.07.004. PMID: 35914639

In the literature: December 2021. Montagut C, Gambardella V, Cabeza-Segura M, Fleitas T, Cervantes A. ESMO Open. 2022 Feb;7(1):100352. doi: 10.1016/j.esmoop.2021.100352. PMID: 34920292

Integrative immune transcriptomic classification improves patient selection for precision immunotherapy in advanced gastro-oesophageal adenocarcinoma. Cabeza-Segura M, Gambardella V, Gimeno-Valiente F, Carbonell-Asins JA, Alarcon-Molero L, Gonzalez-Vilanova A, Zuniga-Trejos S, Rentero-Garrido P, Villagrasa R, Gil M, Dura A, Richart P, Alonso N, Huerta M, Rosello S, Roda D, Tarazona N, Martinez-Ciarpaglini C, Castillo J, Cervantes A, Fleitas T. British Journal of Cancer. 2022 Dec;127(12):2198-2206. doi: 10.1038/s41416-022-02005-z. PMID: 36253523

The LEGACy study: a European and Latin American consortium to identify risk factors and molecular phenotypes in gastric cancer to improve prevention strategies and personalized clinical decision making globally. Van Schooten T, Derks S, Jimenez-Marti E, Carneiro F, Figueiredo C, Ruiz E, Alsina M, Molero C, Garrido M, Riquelme A, Caballero C, Lezcano E, O’Connor J, Esteso F, Farres J, Mas J, Lordick F, Vogt J, Cardone A, Girvalaki C, Cervantes A, Fleitas T. BMC Cancer. 2022 Jun 13;22(1):646. doi: 10.1186/s12885-022-09689-9. PMID: 35692051

Comprehensive genomic and transcriptomic analysis for guiding therapeutic decisions in patients with rare cancers. Gambardella V, Martinez-Ciarpaglini C, Fleitas T, Cervantes A. ESMO Open. 2021 Nov 6;6(6):100285. doi: 10.1016/j.esmoop.2021.100285. PMID: 34752996

In the literature: February 2021. Cejalvo J, Gambardella V, Fleitas T, Cervantes A. ESMO Open. 2021 Feb 24;6(2):100061. doi: 10.1016/j.esmoop.2021.100061. PMID: 33639602

Molecular profiling of advanced solid tumours. The impact of experimental molecular-matched therapies on cancer patient outcomes in early-phase trials: the MAST study. Gambardella V, Lombardi P, Carbonell-Asins JA, Tarazona N, Cejalvo JM, Gonzalez-Barrallo I, Martin-Arana J, Tebar-Martinez R, Viala A, Bruixola G, Hernando C, Blasco I, Papaccio F, Martinez-Ciarpaglini C, Alfaro-Cervello C, Seda-Garcia E, Blesa S, Chirivella I, Castillo J, Monton-Bueno JV, Rosello S, Huerta M, Perez-Fidalgo A, Martin-Martorell P, Insa-Molla A, Fleitas T, Rentero-Garrido P, Zuniga-Trejos S, Cervantes A, Roda D. British Journal of Cancer. 2021 Oct;125(9):1261-1269. doi: 10.1038/s41416-021-01502-x. PMID: 34493820

Reply to the letter to the editor: adjuvant nivolumab for the management of the pathological residual disease in esophageal or junctional tumors: a word of caution by P.K. Garg, R. Kumar and P. Dixit. Smyth EC, Gambardella V, Cervantes A, Fleitas T. Annals of Oncology. 2021 Sep;32(9):1190-1191. doi: 10.1016/j.annonc.2021.05.795. PMID: 34033882

Projects
Reference: 101095359 – AIDA
Title: An Artificially Intelligent Diagnostic Assistant for gastric inflammation. AIDA
Funding body: European Commission
Principal Investigator: Tania Fleitas Kanonnikoff
Duration: 2023 – 2026
Total budget: 1,138,750 (Total: 6,334,803.75)
Reference: PI21/00693
Title: Perfil de biomarcadores inmunes como herramienta para la identificación de pacientes con cáncer gástricos subsidiarios de inmunoterapia
Funding body: Instituto de Salud Carlos III – Cofinanciado FEDER
Principal Investigator: Tania Fleitas Kanonnikoff
Duration: 2022 – 2024
Total budget: 208.120 €
Reference: PI-2021-007
Title: DIRUGEN: Diseño e investigación de nuevos compuestos de rutenio (III) basados en biomoléculas como potenciales agentes antitumorales
Funding body: Universidad de Valencia – INCLIVA
Principal Investigator: Francisco José Martínez Lillo, Tania Fleitas Kanonnikoff
Duration: 2021 – 2022
Total budget: 19.000 €
Reference: PI18/01508
Title: Macrófagos asociados al tumor, angiogénesis tumoral y resistencia a las terapias en Cáncer Gástrico Difuso fenotipo Mesenquimal
Funding body: Instituto de Salud Carlos III – Cofinanciado FEDER
Principal Investigator: Tania Carolina Fleitas Kanonnikoff
Duration: 2019 – 2021
Total budget: 99.220 €
+ Info
Gastric cancer: ESMO Clinical Practice Guideline for diagnosis, treatment and follow-up. Lordick F, Carneiro F, Cascinu S, Fleitas T, Haustermans K, Piessen G, Vogel A, Smyth E. Annals of Oncology. 2022 Oct;33(10):1005-1020. doi: 10.1016/j.annonc.2022.07.004. PMID: 35914639