Who is Marisol Soengas? This is his career, discoveries and awards

Marisol Soengasone of the most famous Spanish scientists for melanoma research, announced that he had cancer. President of the Spanish Association for Cancer Research announced on his account from X (Twitter), who has a breast tumor.

“Cancer has been at the center of my professional career, and now it has also become part of my personal life. “I have a breast tumor, but I approach it with energy, confidence in the science and gratitude for the incredible team of professionals who are treating me,” he said. Messages of support were immediate, and hours later Soengas thanked her for the gesture, saying she was “deeply moved and has more energy to cope with her treatment.”

This news hit everyone like a bucket of ice water. director of the Melanoma group at the National Cancer Research Center (CNIO). Marisol Soengas, biologist specializing in microbiology from the Autonomous University of Madrid, one of the most prestigious scientists in the world in the fight against melanoma, the most common and deadly skin cancer.

Trained at the Center for Molecular Biology of Severo Ochoa under the supervision of Margarita Salas and Marisol Soengas. made great progress with his research group. One of the most important was the creation of bioluminescent mice called MetAlert, which allow us to visualize how melanoma acts from a distance before metastasizing.

Bioluminescent mice are one of Marisol Soengas’ milestones in melanoma research

The Spanish scientist and her team of researchers published the study in the journal. Nature in mid-2017. They spoke in detail about the development of MetAlert models, method of imaging the earliest stage of melanoma. Marisol Soengas and her team genetically modified mice to emit light when lymphatic vessels are pathogenically activated, one of the first steps in the spread of cancer.

Bioluminescent mice have shown how melanoma affects the body before metastases appear. According to Marisol Soengas, today it is very difficult to detect in natural conditions individual tumor cells. Prior to the discovery, the methodology required the introduction of markers into areas where metastasis existed. MetAlert models are also effective in studying response to cancer drugs and recurrence after surgery.

“We have been able to observe how they activate the pathways of spread, that is, the roads along which the tumor circulates,” Soengas said in an interview with the publication A country in 2018. “When, many years later, you see the work you did in mice confirmed in patient samples, it’s very exciting.”

Development of MetAlert models represents a paradigm shift in the study of melanoma metastasis.. The work of Marisol Soengas and her team was recognized as Biomedical Research of the Year by the journal. Nature. However, this is not the only important work of the scientist in this area.

The story of progress in the fight against skin cancer

In 2016, Marisol Soengas and her team of CNIO researchers discovered a specific molecular biomarker for malignant melanoma. A study published in the journal Autophagy found that patients with partial loss of the ATG5 protein were more likely to develop metastases. The scientists found that melanoma cells limited levels of ATG5, a protein vital for autophagy, a process by which the cell destroys damaged or abnormal proteins, as well as viruses and bacteria.

A few months later, the CNIO Melanoma Group published the study in a journal. Nature in which he details the role of the CPEB4 protein in melanoma cells. The researchers found that these cells are more dependent on this protein, which helps differentiate melanoma from other types of cancer. Soengas and his team found that inhibiting CPEB4 prevented cell proliferation, so it could be used in treatment.

Marisol Soengas has many recognitionss for research into the fight against melanoma. In 2017, she received the Estela Medrano Award from the Melanoma Research Society and then the Medal of Honor from the Spanish Association of Scientists. in 2018. A year later, a Spanish scientist received the Fritz Anders medalawarded by the European Society for Pigment Cell Research for her contributions to melanoma research and advances in treatment.

“I will continue to demand research, development and innovation that advances knowledge about cancer and that the results of this research reach people with cancer as quickly and equitably as possible,” Marisol Soengas said after reporting that her mother has a cancerous tumor.