Notícias de: General News

National Science Day and Researcher Day are celebrated on July 8th. The date was created to highlight the importance of science for the country’s development, stimulate the interest of young people and disseminate scientific knowledge to society. Instituto Mário Penna has a Teaching and Research Nucleus (NEP) composed of a team of researchers dedicated exclusively to the development of scientific projects and clinical research applied to oncology.

The NEP was founded in 2015 with the purpose of acting in the investigation and production of scientific data. “Over the years, we have been generating knowledge and advances in the field of oncology, based on basic, translational and clinical research”; explains Dr. Paulo Guilherme, pathologist and Director of the Teaching and Research Center.

In Basic and Translational Research, the projects under development aim to identify cancer markers capable of offering a better quality of life to cancer patients, as well as supporting medical decisions. The research results should allow for an increasingly personalized medicine for the treatment of cancer patients. Currently, two projects approved by the National Oncology Care Program (Pronon) and dedicated to the research of biomarkers in female cancers (cervical, breast and ovarian cancer) and to the implementation of the first tumor bank in the State of Minas Gerais are underway. In addition, five doctoral and seven master’s projects are being developed, supervised by NEP researchers, in partnership with UFMG, UFU, Funed and Fio Cruz.

In Clinical Research, IMP researchers are currently working on three open studies for patient/volunteer recruitment: the Thor study for the treatment of bladder cancer and the Rigel and Kiniksa studies for the treatment of inpatients due to complications of cancer. Covid.

“In the coming months, we expect to open four more studies focusing on Covid’s treatment and another four to offer treatment for lung, cervical and bladder cancer”; emphasizes Dr. Paulo Guilherme.

Genetic mutations can lead to the development of cancer and research shows that 66% of those that cause tumors are random, only 29% are linked to environment or lifestyle and only 5% are linked to heredity. But, do you know what mutations are?

All living beings have genetic material that is responsible for generating the organism and keeping it functioning. This genetic material works like a code that needs to be read and interpreted whenever a biological activity is needed in this organism. Each species has a genetic code that is its own and that is the same among all individuals of that species. However, each individual has small differences that distinguish them from each other. It happens to all of us too. We have the same genetic code, but each has small differences that make us different even when compared to our brothers.

When our cells are going to multiply, whether to repair damaged tissue or to replace other cells, this genetic code needs to duplicate itself. This is important so that each new cell has the same genetic information as the one that originated it. During this duplication step, small errors can happen in the genetic code and they are called mutations.

Most mutations that occur are corrected or the cell is destroyed. However, some cells with mutations can remain in the body. Some of these mutations can bring advantages to living beings and this type of mutation is one of those responsible for the evolution of living beings, that is, they are legal. But some can be quite problematic and can cause serious problems, like those that trigger cancer.

Identifying these mutations is essential to understand the characteristics of the disease and propose increasingly individualized treatment methodologies, thus helping patients to have a more efficient response to available treatments and, consequently, to have a greater chance of cure. In addition, knowledge of mutations in tumors can also identify new types of treatment.

“Working at the frontier of knowledge and research on cancer and with the purpose of expanding this scientific knowledge, proposing solutions for the diagnosis and treatment of cancer patients, researchers from the Translational Research Laboratory of the Teaching and Research Center (NEP), are developing studies to assess the burden of mutations present in patients with breast and ovarian cancer; says Dr. Fábio Queiroz, one of the Laboratory’s researchers. The methodology applied in these surveys was developed by Qiagen™, an internationally renowned company in the production of biotechnology inputs.

*Text written by Dr. Fábio Ribeiro Queiroz