The research work being carried out by the Human Melanoma Research Team at the UPV/EHU is also involved in the quest for the genes susceptible to melanoma. That is, it should not be necessary to wait for an individual to be diagnosed for melanoma given that, knowing the genes related to having more susceptibility to suffering from melanoma, the appropriate measures of prevention and medical monitoring can be taken, and in a personalised manner. With this goal, the UPV/EHU research team is collaborating with Dr. Santos Alonso from the Department of Genetics, Physical Anthropology and Animal Physiology at the Faculty of Science and Technology.

Based on all these findings, the UPV/EHU research team have identified new tumour markers and are currently researching new molecules and pharmaceutical drugs for therapeutic use.

Today the team is focusing on the identification of these molecules or pharmaceutical drugs and studying in depth the characterisation of the intracellular routes activated by these drugs in order to identify markers of sensitivity or resistance. Acquired resistance is one of the principal problems in current therapies, specifically in chemotherapy. The identification of the intracellular routes activated by these pharmaceutical drugs will undoubtedly contribute to drawing up new therapeutic strategies for the treatment of cancer.

Source: Elhuyar Fundazioa