Research

Our research lines are:

-   Genetic studies on of HIV-related lymphomas

Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma is the most frequent type of lymphoma in the HIV-infected population. HIV-infected patients are treated with the same regimens as the HIV-noninfected and similar responses are obtained but their survival is lower due to the higher susceptibility to infections and secondary neoplasms. The biological context of HIV-related lymphomas and the etiopathogenesis may be distinct from HIV-non-infected lymphomas. The disclosure of the transcriptome of HIV-DLBCL and the altered signaling pathways could allow to define prognostic factors, as well as to identify drugs that could revert the abnormal cell functioning. Furtheremor, It would be expected to change the diagnostic tools and prognostic algorithms and to define new and more effective targeted therapies for HIV-DLBCL patients.

-   Liquid biopsy in aggressive lymphomas.

The diagnosis of DLBCL sometimes can be difficult to make it applying all the technics to properly classify it, because not always enough material is obtained from the biopsy. Therefore, a non-invasive method, such as a liquid biopsy could suppose an important advance in the clinical practice for the diagnosis and follow-up of DLBCL. This technique could be useful to diagnose DLBCL earlier, and in a complete and accurate manner than only with tissue biopsy. Moreover, liquid biopsy could be used to unveil treatment resistance, as well as to follow-up the patients and detect lymphoma relapses earlier.

-   Genetic studies on plasmablastic lymphoma.

Plasmablastic lymphoma (PBL) is a rare B-cell lymphoid neoplasm especially affecting immunocompromised individuals. It is an entity with poor prognosis despite treatment. Unlike other lymphomas, the genetic and epigenetic alterations have not been scarcely studied in patients with PBL. In collaboration with Professor Georg Lenz, we have created the “International Consortium of Plasmablastic Lymphoma” a working group to study clinic, genetic and epigenetic landscape of PBL. The identification of abnormalities in the genome, transcriptome and epigenome of PBL will lead to substantial advances in the knowledge of the biology of PBL and it is expected to change the diagnostic tools and prognostic algorithms, finally helping defining the best therapies or to design new therapeutic.

-   Genetic characteristics of Castleman disease.

Castleman disease (CD) is a rare disease, characterized by a non-clonal lymphoid proliferation with an heterogenous clinical course. Some patients have very favorable outcomes whereas other develop highly progressive disease and die within weeks, some developing an aggressive lymphoma. There are few reports on the underling genomic alterations associated with CD and so far, it is unknown the etiology of this disease. We expect to define the transcriptional programs, the cellular signaling pathways and the epigenetic alterations associated with this lymphoproliferative disorder. The results of this research hopefully will identify new CD biomarkers and will support the design of new treatments and target therapies that eventually will improve the prognosis and quality of life of patients with CD.