The Spanish Society of Medical Oncology (SEOM, a scientific body made up of more than 2,000 doctors specialising in oncology, which has the mission to progress in the fight against cancer) has awarded a prize to the research project carried out by Dr Isabel Álvarez, head of the group on research into Breast Cancer at the IIS Biodonostia and into oncology at the OSI Donostialdea, and Dr María M. Caffarel, Ikerbasque researcher in the IIS Biodonostia Haemato-Oncology group.

The project entitled “Study of the Oncostatin M receptor as the new therapeutic target and predictor of resistance to chemotherapy in Triple Negative breast cancer” will receive the FSEOM/FontVella Grant of €20,000 awarded by the company.

Breast Cancer is the cancer most frequently found in women and is the second cause of cancer deaths in women in developed countries, although mortality due to breast cancer has fallen in recent years due to early diagnosis programmes and more effective treatments. This disease consists of a heterogeneous group of tumours with different characteristics as regards their biology, prognosis and treatment. There is a subgroup of tumours, known as Triple Negative, which have more aggressive characteristics and for which the only effective treatment is currently chemotherapy.

This research project endeavours to understand some of the mechanisms of resistance to chemotherapy in Triple Negative breast tumours, which can help us to design specific therapies for such ‘resistant’ tumours. Specifically, the research team will study the role of a protein (the Oncostatin M receptor or OSMR) as a potential therapeutic target and marker of resistance to chemotherapy in Triple Negative breast cancer. It will therefore use different models of breast cancer in the laboratory (patient-derived cells and models of tumours in mice) and patient samples.

At the grant presentation ceremony, held on October 29 in Madrid at the XV SEOM Congress 2015, running from October 28-30, in addition to the subsidy, the company awarded another 5 to research projects and 11 scholarships for internships at benchmark centres abroad.