Resumo da apresentação:

Melanoma is the deadliest form of skin cancer, and in the last years, incidence has risen faster than almost any other cancer. Targeted therapies, like BRAF and MEK inhibitors, improved the outcome of melanoma patients, however they ultimately develop resistance, promoting the identification of new therapeutic biomarkers.

SPINT2 has been identified as a tumor suppressor gene in various solid tumors and shown to have a role in melanoma aggressiveness, cell migration and proliferation capacity. This protein is a serine protease inhibitor that regulates several cellular functions and signaling pathways, including the HGF/MET pathway. Still, it remains inconclusive how SPINT2 influences melanoma microenvironment, aggressiveness and response to therapy. This presentation will focus on the preliminary results from our group aiming to further understand the tumorigenic role of SPINT2 in melanoma and the influence of this tumor suppressor gene on targeted therapies’ efficiency. Our results propose SPINT2 as a potential therapeutic biomarker towards a more personalized treatment of melanoma patients.

Biography:
Marta Viana-Pereira is a Researcher at Life and Health Sciences Research Institute (ICVS), School of Medicine, University of Minho and a first-year medical resident at Hospital de Braga. She holds a degree in Applied Biology by the School of Sciences, University of Minho (2005), completed her PhD in Health Sciences by the School of Medicine, University of Minho (2011), awarded with a PhD grant from the Portuguese Science Foundation (FCT), and concluded her Medical Degree by the Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar (ICBAS), University of Porto (2019). During her PhD, Marta was also a visiting research fellow at The Institute of Cancer Research, London, UK (2008-2009). She has 8 years of postdoctoral experience at the School of Medicine, University of Minho (2011-2019). Marta has worked with different tumor models, having acquired a broad experience in the Oncobiology research field, and with the recent Medical Degree she aims to add a clinical significance into her research.

Marta has published several international peer-reviewed research articles and book chapters; supervised 2 Master’s theses and several under-graduated and post-graduated research projects. Her research team has been awarded with several national and international awards.