• Identification of the cell of origin and the stage of cell differentiation in which transforming events occur, determining the biology of the tumor.
  • Discriminate between the two current theories for the `cancer stem cell?: reactivation of stem cell properties on a committed lineage or inhibition of the differentiation process on immature precursor cells.
  • Analyze the role of tissue damage and aberrant repair signaling.
• Characterization of the molecular pathways required for tumor progression.
  • Study potent tumor-suppressor mechanisms that prevent neoplastic transformation in common benign lesions (e.g. leiomyoma) which loss might result in more rare malignant tumors (e.g. leiomyosarcoma).
  • Evaluation of abnormal microRNA expression profiles characteristic of different sarcoma subtypes: implications for molecular classification and potential therapeutic intervention.

Our studies center in sarcoma and bladder carcinoma, two tumor types characterized by high levels of aneuploidy and genetic instability, and in which the impact of tissue damage and repair mechanisms is particularly relevant.

Our approach benefits from three experimental resources:

• The analysis of human samples by different array technologies;
• The in vitro manipulation of stem cells (e.g. mesenchymal stem cells in the case of sarcoma), by viral transduction followed by differentiation and transformation assays; and
• The generation and characterization of mouse models of cancer, in which we also assess the efficacy of new treatment strategies (`pre-clinical? trials).

The ultimate goal of our research is to unravel novel therapeutic targets and to contribute to a more accurate cancer patient classification.