Professor
Professor Associado com Agregação
Principal Investigator
Co-Principal Investigator of the Resistance & Genome integrity research group.
Polychemotherapy and targeted therapy have substantially improved survival rates for cancer patients. Unfortunately, therapeutic failure occurs in many patients. The main reason is the development of drug resistance (DR), leading to disease progression and death. Identifying the development of DR and patients at higher risk can have profound implications for the selection of individualized therapies and the reduction of the risk of recurrence. Most studies assume that once DR is established, the underlying mechanisms remain in place. However, DR mechanisms evolve and change over time, giving cancer a continuous advantage.
Our group has shown that DR is a dynamic phenomenon, with different mechanisms activated over time. It is essential to monitor DR as it develops, characterizing tumor cells as they respond to drug pressure and identifying DR biomarkers. The group's objectives are to characterize resistance mechanisms, in vitro and in vivo, with a view to identifying early markers that may have clinical translation.