Page 68 - MemoriaCIBER2019-ENG

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CIBER Annual report 2019
diets in IBS has been maintained. Post-infectious IBS and the role probiotics have occupied another signi- ficant group of studies, as well as the analysis of epithelial dysfunction in IBS-D from a basic standpoint. As regards oropharyngeal motility, the studies –both clinical and basic- are aimed at the development of active pharmacological treatments using oropharyngeal receptor agonists TRPV1, TRPA1 and TRPM8, and compensatory strategies called “Minimal-Massive Intervention” for the management of oropharyngeal dysphagia.
PROGRAMME 3. Hepatic and Digestive Oncology
Coordinator: Bruno Sangro Gómez-Acebo
Hepatobiliopancreatic and digestive system cancer is a frequent cause of death in the general population, represent- ing a high burden of care in hospitals and health centers, and very high healthcare and pharmaceutical costs. This has led CIBEREHD to include a programme dedicated to this pathology. Its approach goes beyond the programme itself, however, and involves various CIBEREHD groups in transversal lines of work focused on partial aspects of the problem, with knowledge being contributed from the fields of molecular biology, genetics, immunology, epidemiology or clinical intervention.
Studies in liver cancer have continued to analyse the incidence of cancer after viral cure, showing that oncogenic risk remains unchanged in patients with cirrhosis. Following the line investigating the potential association between treatment and the elimination of HCV and the recurrence of hepatocellular carcinoma, a collaborative study has been published that suggests that the presence of uncharacterized nodules in patients with HCV cirrhosis could represent a factor of risk for the development of hepatocellular carcinoma in the context of treatment.
CIBEREHD researchers have led studies with various immunomodulatory molecules for the treatment of hepatocel- lular carcinoma, and studies have been launched to understand the resistance to this option and identify predictors of favorable response. Unfortunately, no predictive parameter has been identified despite the various misleading suggestions that have been advertised in both specialized journals and the general media.
In the field of colorectal cancer, the level of output of quality publications has been maintained, both in relation to population screening programs as well as familial risk. This has been the result of clinical research associated with genetic analysis in collaboration with various CIBEREHD groups or from other areas.
Finally, the research activity in cholangiocarcinoma has been consolidated with the identification of circulating me- tabolites that could serve as markers for the early diagnosis of the disease in patients with primary sclerosing chol- angitis, a pre-cancerous entity, and for the distinction between the histology of cholangiocarcinoma or hepatocellular carcinoma in small-sized nodules of cirrhotic livers.