Appointment of Armando López-Guillermo, Group leader (R4)

Current research

Problem

Lymphoproliferative disorders (increased proliferation of lymphoid cells) are malignant diseases that are still causing the death of many people around the world today. Understanding their clinical characteristics and, in particular, their biology, should help to find the most appropriate treatment.

These are highly complex and diverse disorders (there are over 50 according to the current classification), which makes their study more complicated, as it must be multidisciplinary.

Approach

The group uses several strategies to improve the understanding and treatment of lymphoproliferative disorders. These are: biological studies of the expression and mutation of lymphoma genes; other genetic abnormalities and the study of tumour microenvironments; analysis of groups of patients with lymphoma; and clinical trials with new treatments and innovative procedures. All of this is carried out in collaboration with other IDIBAPS research groups.

Impact

The group has obtained results in different areas, from biological data that cannot yet be applied to patients, to clinical trials. Its most notable results include the genetic characterization of chronic lymphatic leukaemia and large-cell lymphoma, the development of prognostic scores and clinical guidelines for the principal lymphoproliferative diseases, and innovative trials with new molecules and therapies (notably, therapy using CAR-T cells).