La planificación como estrategia en las bibliotecas de la UPC

“Learn 2010,” the fourth strategic plan implemented by the Technical University of Catalonia (UPC) libraries, outlines the libraries’ response to the new challenges facing European higher education in the coming years. Its motto for 2007-2010 is: “The UPC libraries give support to the new European Space of Knowledge”. The main goals of “Learn 2010” include: new library facilities and spaces that allow students to work and learn in groups, with innovative and personalized services, more electronic resources that meet user information needs and expectations in an online learning environment, digital academic repositories that support scientific publication and increase the visibility of faculty and researchers’ academic output, and librarians with language skills who take on new professional challenges such as developing information literacy programs

Strategic planning and the Technical University of Catalonia (UPC) libraries

“Learn 2010,” the fourth strategic plan implemented by the Technical University of Catalonia (UPC) libraries, outlines the libraries’ response to the new challenges facing European higher education in the coming years. Its motto for 2007-2010 is: “The UPC libraries give support to the new European Space of Knowledge”. The main goals of “Learn 2010” include: new library facilities and spaces that allow students to work and learn in groups, with innovative and personalized services, more electronic resources that meet user information needs and expectations in an online learning environment, digital academic repositories that support scientific publication and increase the visibility of faculty and researchers’ academic output, and librarians with language skills who take on new professional challenges such as developing information literacy programs

La planificación como estrategia en las bibliotecas de la UPC

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La planificación como estrategia en las bibliotecas de la UPC

“Learn 2010,” the fourth strategic plan implemented by the Technical University of Catalonia (UPC) libraries, outlines the libraries’ response to the new challenges facing European higher education in the coming years. Its motto for 2007-2010 is: “The UPC libraries give support to the new European Space of Knowledge”. The main goals of “Learn 2010” include: new library facilities and spaces that allow students to work and learn in groups, with innovative and personalized services, more electronic resources that meet user information needs and expectations in an online learning environment, digital academic repositories that support scientific publication and increase the visibility of faculty and researchers’ academic output, and librarians with language skills who take on new professional challenges such as developing information literacy programs

Genomic Analyses across Six Cancer Types Identify Basal-like Breast Cancer as a Unique Molecular Entity

To improve our understanding of the biological relationships among different types of cancer, we have characterized variation in gene expression patterns in a set of 1,707 samples representing 6 human cancer types (breast, ovarian, brain, colorectal, lung adenocarcinoma and squamous cell lung cancer). In the unified dataset, breast tumors of the Basal-like subtype were found to represent a unique molecular entity as any other cancer type, including the rest of breast tumors, while showing striking similarities with squamous cell lung cancers. Moreover, gene signatures tracking various cancer- and stromal-related biological processes such as proliferation, hypoxia and immune activation were found expressed similarly in different proportions of tumors across the various cancer types. These data suggest that clinical trials focusing on tumors with common profiles and/or biomarker expression rather than their tissue of origin are warranted with a special focus on Basal-like breast cancer and squamous cell lung carcinoma

Incorporating BEAMing technology as a liquid biopsy into clinical practice for the management of colorectal cancer patients : an expert taskforce review

The importance of mutation identification for advanced colorectal cancer treatment with anti-epidermal growth factor receptor agents is well established. However, due to delays in turnaround time, low-quality tissue samples, and/or lack of standardization of testing methods a significant proportion of patients are being treated without the information that Kirsten rat sarcoma and neuroblastoma rat sarcoma (RAS) testing can provide. The detection of mutated circulating tumor DNA by BEAMing technology addresses this gap in care and allows these patients to receive international guideline-recommended expanded RAS testing with rapid turnaround times. Furthermore, the overall concordance between OncoBEAM RAS colorectal cancer testing and standard of care tissue testing is very high (93.3%). This article presents an overview of the clinical utility and potential applications of this minimally invasive method, such as early detection of emergent resistance to anti-epidermal growth factor receptor therapy. If appropriately implemented, BEAMing technology holds considerable promise to enhance the quality of patient care and improve clinical outcomes

Targeted multiplex proteomics for molecular prescreening and biomarker discovery in metastatic colorectal cancer

Biomarcadores del cáncer; Cáncer metástico colorrectal; Terapias experimentalesCancer biomarkers; Colorectal metastatic cancer; Experimental therapiesBiomarcadors del càncer; Càncer metastàtic colorrectal; Teràpies experimentalsProtein biomarkers are widely used in cancer diagnosis, prognosis, and prediction of treatment response. Here we introduce the use of targeted multiplex proteomics (TMP) as a tool to simultaneously measure a panel of 54 proteins involved in oncogenic, tumour suppression, drug metabolism and resistance, in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC). TMP provided valuable diagnostic information by unmasking an occult neuroendocrine differentiation and identifying a misclassified case based on abnormal proteins phenotype. No significant differences in protein levels between unpaired primary and metastatic samples were observed. Four proteins were found differentially expressed in KRAS-mutant as compared to wild-type tumours (overexpressed in mutant: KRAS, EGFR; overexpressed in wild-type: TOPO1, TOP2A). Survival analyses revealed the association between mesothelin expression and poor overall survival, whereas lack of PTEN protein expression associated with lower progression-free survival with anti-EGFR-based therapy in the first-line setting for patients with RAS wild-type tumour. Finally, outlier analysis identified putative targetable proteins in 65% of patients lacking a targetable genomic alteration. Our data show that TMP constitutes a promising, novel molecular prescreening tool in mCRC to identify protein expression alterations that may impact on patient outcomes and more precisely guide patient eligibility to clinical trials with novel targeted experimental therapies

Plasmatic BRAF-V600E allele fraction as a prognostic factor in metastatic colorectal cancer treated with BRAF combinatorial treatments

BRAF inhibitor; Colorectal cancerInhibidor de BRAF; Cáncer colorrectalInhibidor de BRAF; Càncer colorectalBackground Combination of a BRAF inhibitor (BRAFi) and an anti-epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), with or without a MEK inhibitor (MEKi), improves survival in BRAF-V600E-mutant metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) over standard chemotherapy. However, responses are heterogeneous and there are no available biomarkers to assess patient prognosis or guide doublet- or triplet-based regimens. In order to better characterize the clinical heterogeneity observed, we assessed the prognostic and predictive role of the plasmatic BRAF allele fraction (AF) for these combinations. Patients and methods A prospective discovery cohort including 47 BRAF-V600E-mutant patients treated with BRAFi–anti-EGFR ± MEKi in clinical trials and real-world practice was evaluated. Results were validated in an independent multicenter cohort (n = 29). Plasmatic BRAF-V600E AF cut-off at baseline was defined in the discovery cohort with droplet digital PCR (ddPCR). All patients had tissue-confirmed BRAF-V600E mutations. Results Patients with high AF have major frequency of liver metastases and more metastatic sites. In the discovery cohort, median progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were 4.4 and 10.1 months, respectively. Patients with high BRAF AF (≥2%, n = 23) showed worse PFS [hazard ratio (HR) 2.97, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.55-5.69; P = 0.001] and worse OS (HR 3.28, 95% CI 1.58-6.81; P = 0.001) than low-BRAF AF patients (<2%, n = 24). In the multivariable analysis, BRAF AF levels maintained independent significance. In the validation cohort, high BRAF AF was associated with worse PFS (HR 3.83, 95% CI 1.60-9.17; P = 0.002) and a trend toward worse OS was observed (HR 1.86, 95% CI 0.80-4.34; P = 0.15). An exploratory analysis of predictive value showed that high-BRAF AF patients (n = 35) benefited more from triplet therapy than low-BRAF AF patients (n = 41; PFS and OS interaction tests, P < 0.01). Conclusions Plasmatic BRAF AF determined by ddPCR is a reliable surrogate of tumor burden and aggressiveness in BRAF-V600E-mutant mCRC treated with a BRAFi plus an anti-EGFR with or without a MEKi and identifies patients who may benefit from treatment intensification. Our results warrant further validation of plasmatic BRAF AF to refine clinical stratification and guide treatment strategies.This work was supported by the Fundación FERO; the Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER) ISCIII-FEDER [grant number PI20/00968]; and Fundación AECC [grant number CLSEN19001ELEZ], CRIS contra el Cancer and Mutual Medica Fellowship

Activity of HSP90 Inhibiton in a Metastatic Lung Cancer Patient With a Germline BRCA1 Mutation

Heat shock proteins (HSPs) are molecular chaperones that maintain proteins in their correct conformation to ensure stability and protect carcinoma cells from apoptosis. HSP90 inhibitors (HSP90i) block multiple targets simultaneously, and despite responses in a selected population, no HSP90i have yet been approved. We present a patient with a lung tumor with an exceptional response to cisplatin/gemcitabine in combination with HSP90i, which nowadays continues with HSP90i maintenance after three years. Whole-exome sequencing of the lung tumor unveiled a BRCA1/2 deficiency mutational signature, and mutation analysis confirmed a germline BRCA1 mutation. The striking efficacy of HSP90i plus chemotherapy vs chemotherapy alone was reproduced in a patient-derived xenograft (PDX) model from a breast cancer patient with a BRCA1 mutation (mean tumor volume [SD], No. of tumors: vehicle 8.38 [7.07] mm 3, n = 3; HSP90i 4.18 [1.93] mm 3, n = 5; cisplatin plus gemcitabine 3.31 [1.95] mm 3, n = 5; cisplatin plus gemcitabine plus HSP90i 0.065 [0.076] mm 3, n = 6). This case and the PDX demonstrate the efficacy for therapeutic inhibition of HSP90 in a BRCA- mutated patient, opening a new potential avenue for better identifying patients who might benefit most from HSP90i