Cancer is the one of the most important causes of death in the Western World including Spain only behind Cardiovascular Diseases and other Chronic Diseases.

Cancer is a very complex group of diseases. To date, more than 150 different cancer types have been defined by histopathological criteria. The complexity is even higher at the molecular level. As of last month, 355 genes have been found to be mutated in at least one type of human cancer. This number would be considerably higher if would take into account other genes that may contribute to cancer by altering their levels or pattern of expression. Thus, it is essential to gain a better understanding of CANCER BIOLOGY.

OncoBio Consolider Programme, sponsored by Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation, is integrated by some of the top investigators in Spain working on various aspects of Cancer Biology in a network that study in a coordinated fashion some of the most critical aspects of cancer biology such as:

• The role of various oncogenes and tumor suppressors in physiologically relevant animal model systems.
• The identification of the cancer stem cells (CSC) responsible for maintaining tumor growth.
• The role of tumor microenvironment such as the stroma, blood vessels (angiogenesis) and inflammatory responses.
• The identification of molecular markers and biologically relevant targets for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes, respectively.

These research activities will be supported by two transversal programmes focused on state of the art technologies in genomic, proteomic and gene-targeting approaches. This coordinated project (OncoBIO) will provide critical information for the development of new strategic opportunities aimed at improving those diagnostic and therapeutic approaches currently used to treat cancer patients.