The popular vote has chosen the study on soluble AXL as an early biomarker of pancreatic cancer as the most outstanding among the eight finalist projects. Neus Martínez (IMIM-Hospital del Mar/Associated Unit IIBB-CSIC) is the first author of this work and Pilar Navarro (IIBB-CSIC) is co-PI, together with Pablo García de Frutos. A recognition of the work done and the female talent. The winners were chosen by the readers of La Vanguardia among the eight candidacies selected by a jury, who highlighted the quality of the research and the fact that it was led by women scientists. The award is organized by the newspaper La Vanguardia and the Fundació Catalunya La Pedrera. It is an honorary award that aims to give visibility to the research carried out in the State. The award ceremony will take place on April 26 at La Pedrera.
Advance in pancreatic cancer
The study led by the IIBB-CSIC-IDIBAPS, IMIM-Hospital Mar and in collaboration with the Hospital Clínic, allowed to identify a new marker for early diagnosis that could be used in the most common type of pancreatic cancer, pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. The work was published in the journal eBioMedicine, from The Lancet group.
This research studied the usefulness of detecting in blood a soluble fragment of the AXL receptor, a protein found on the surface of tumor cells, to identify patients with pancreatic cancer from healthy individuals or patients with other pancreatic pathologies. They found that AXL was a biomarker in plasma, indicating the presence of tumor cells. At this point, it is necessary to start a prospective validation study of the biomarker with a larger number of patients in order to confirm if it could be useful in clinical practice. It must be borne in mind that there is currently no biomarker for early diagnosis of this disease, which today is the third leading cause of cancer-related death in developed countries.
