Julie Earl

Julie Earl
Hospital Universitario Ramón y Cajal · Departamento de Oncología Médica

PhD

About

201
Publications
13,570
Reads
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3,010
Citations
Additional affiliations
January 2008 - December 2010
Spanish National Cancer Research Centre
Position
  • PostDoc Position
November 2002 - December 2007
University of Liverpool
Position
  • PostDoc Position

Publications

Publications (201)
Article
Full-text available
Background: Single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in enzyme-coding genes play a role in susceptibility to anti-cancer therapy. Materials & methods: A prospective study was performed of the relationship between enzyme activity and treatment response, drug toxicity and hypersensitivity reactions in 51 patients with colorectal cancer treated with...
Article
Full-text available
Background: Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is associated with a significant percentage of germline pathogenic variants (GPVs). Unlike in the United States, routine universal genetic testing is not performed in Europe. The aim of the study is to evaluate the diagnostic yield of germline genetic testing in all patients with PDAC. Methods: In...
Article
Full-text available
Background and Aims Timely and accurate detection of tumor recurrence in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) patients is an urgent and unmet medical need. This study aimed to develop a noninvasive molecular diagnostic procedure for the detection of recurrence after PDAC resection based on quantification of circulating mRNA and miRNA biomarkers...
Article
Full-text available
Alpha‐smooth muscle actin (α‐SMA) expression in the stroma is linked to the presence of cancer‐associated fibroblasts and is known to correlate with worse outcomes in various tumors. In this study, using a GeoMx digital spatial profiling approach, we characterized the gene expression of the tumor and α‐SMA‐expressing stromal cell compartments in pa...
Article
Full-text available
Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is the fourth leading cause of cancer-related death in the Western world. The number of diagnosed cases and the mortality rate are almost equal as the majority of patients present with advanced disease at diagnosis. Between 4 and 10% of pancreatic cancer cases have an apparent hereditary background, known as...
Article
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The Spanish Familial Pancreatic Cancer Registry (PANGENFAM) was established in 2009 and aims to characterize the genotype and phenotype of familial pancreatic cancer (FPC). Furthermore, an early detection screening program for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is provided to healthy high-risk individuals from FPC and hereditary pancreatic can...
Article
Full-text available
Objective Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) has limited therapeutic options, particularly with immune checkpoint inhibitors. Highly chemoresistant ‘stem-like’ cells, known as cancer stem cells (CSCs), are implicated in PDAC aggressiveness. Thus, comprehending how this subset of cells evades the immune system is crucial for advancing novel the...
Article
Background: Pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PC) is a highly lethal malignancy with a survival rate of only 12%. Surveillance is recommended for high-risk individuals (HRIs), but it is not widely adopted. To address this unmet clinical need and drive early diagnosis research, we established the Pancreatic Cancer Early Detection (PRECEDE) Consortium. Me...
Cover Page
Un estudio liderado por investigadoras del ITEFI-CSIC logra inhibir procesos de migración de células cancerosas in vitro mediante radiación de baja intensidad, lo que abre la puerta a una nueva terapia no invasiva para detener el crecimiento de tumores sin destruir las células sanas
Article
Introduction: The Spanish familial pancreatic cancer registry (PANGENFAM) was established in 2009, with the main objective to study the genetic and phenotypic characteristics of familial pancreatic cancer families and offer screening of high-risk individuals for early detection. Methods: Targeted panel and exome sequencing of 52 FPC and 33 sporadic...
Preprint
Full-text available
Objective Alpha smooth muscle actin (alpha-SMA) expression in stroma is linked to the presence of cancer-associated fibroblasts and is known to correlate with worse outcomes in various tumors. In this study, using a digital spatial profiling approach, we characterized the gene expression profiles of the tumor and alpha-SMA positive stromal cell com...
Article
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3D bioprinting involves using bioinks that combine biological and synthetic materials. The selection of the most appropriate cell-material combination for a specific application is complex, and there is a lack of consensus on the optimal conditions required. Plasma-loaded alginate and alginate/methylcellulose (Alg/MC) inks were chosen to study thei...
Article
Full-text available
Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is among the deadliest cancers worldwide, primarily due to its robust desmoplastic stroma and immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment (TME), which facilitate tumor progression and metastasis. In addition, fibrous tissue leads to sparse vasculature, high interstitial fluid pressure, and hypoxia, thereby hinde...
Article
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Gastrointestinal (GI) cancers are malignancies that develop within the digestive system and account for one in four cancer cases according to WHO data [...]
Article
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In recent years, it has been verified that collective cell migration is a fundamental step in tumor spreading and metastatic processes. In this paper, we demonstrate for the first time how low-intensity ultrasound produces long-term inhibition of collective migration of epithelial cancer cells in wound healing processes. In particular, we show how...
Article
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Genetic aberrations, including chromosomal rearrangements, loss or amplification of DNA, and point mutations, are major elements of cancer development [...]
Article
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Pancreatic neuroendocrine neoplasms (pNENs) are rare cancers with broad challenges for their management. The main clinical obstacles are the high rate of patients diagnosed at advanced stages, lack of prognostic markers for early detection of disease recurrence in resected patients, significant limitations in identifying those who will benefit from...
Article
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Aim: Glioblastoma (GB) is an aggressive tumor type and the detection of circulating endothelial cells (CECs) in peripheral blood has been related to angiogenesis. Materials & methods: A prospective single-center pilot study of CEC detection at diagnosis in 22 patients with GB was performed, using the US FDA-approved CellSearch system. Results:...
Article
e16239 Background: Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is a highly lethal disease with lack of effective early detection strategies. There is an incomplete understanding of who is at risk for PDAC development and the contribution of heritability to that risk. Further, efforts at biomarker development for detection of early stage disease have be...
Article
Full-text available
Objective The lysyl oxidase-like protein 2 (LOXL2) contributes to tumour progression and metastasis in different tumour entities, but its role in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) has not been evaluated in immunocompetent in vivo PDAC models. Design Towards this end, we used PDAC patient data sets, patient-derived xenograft in vivo and in vi...
Article
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Ultrasounds (US) are a non-ionizing mechanical wave, with less adverse effects than conventional pharmacological or surgical treatments. Different biological effects are induced in tissues and cells by ultrasound actuation depending on acoustic parameters, such as the wave intensity, frequency and treatment dose. This non-ionizing radiation has con...
Article
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Due to abundant stroma and extracellular matrix, accompanied by lack of vascularization, pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is characterized by severe hypoxia. Epigenetic regulation is likely one of the mechanisms driving hypoxia-induced epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT), responsible for PDAC aggressiveness and dismal prognosis. To ve...
Article
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IntroductionThe IMMray PanCan-d test combines an 8-plex biomarker signature with CA19-9 in a proprietary algorithm to detect pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) in serum samples. This study aimed to validate the clinical performance of the IMMray PanCan-d test and to better understand test performance in Lewis null (le/le) individuals who canno...
Article
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Background Early diagnosis is crucial for patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). The AXL receptor tyrosine kinase is proteolytically processed releasing a soluble form (sAXL) into the blood stream. Here we explore the use of sAXL as a biomarker for PDAC. Methods AXL was analysed by immunohistochemistry in human pancreatic tissue sa...
Article
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Background and aims To successfully implement imaging-based pancreatic cancer (PC) surveillance, it is key to understand the timeline and morphological features of neoplastic progression. We aimed to investigate the progression to neoplasia from serial prediagnostic pancreatic imaging tests in high-risk individuals, and identify factors associated...
Preprint
Full-text available
In recent years, it has been verified that collective cell migration is a fundamental step in tumor spreading and metastatic processes. In this paper, we demonstrate for the first time how low-intensity ultrasound produces long-term inhibition of collective migration of epithelial cancer cells in wound healing processes. In particular, we show how...
Conference Paper
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Cancer modeling has been of special interest since it paves the way for easing and modulating preclinical research model’s conditions. Relevant advantages are the higher similarity to in vivo systems compared to 2D culture, and preclinical allogenic equivalence compared to animal models. Since pancreatic cancer holds still a low survival rate, stro...
Chapter
Tumor cell dissemination is mediated by a subpopulation of cells referred to as circulating tumor cells (CTCs), which have epithelial to mesenchymal properties and an inherent capacity to intravasate from the primary tumor, extravasate into secondary organs, and survive both in circulation and within the secondary organ. These properties have long...
Article
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First-line treatment with regorafenib in frail metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) patients has shown some benefit. To accurately identify such patients before treatment, we studied blood biomarkers and primary tumor molecules. We unveiled serum microRNAs (miRNAs), single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in angiogenic-related genes, and Notch 1 expr...
Article
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Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) presents many challenges in the clinic and there are many areas for improvement in diagnostics and patient management. The five-year survival rate is around 7.2% as the majority of patients present with advanced disease at diagnosis that is treatment resistant. Approximately 10–15% of PDAC cases have a heredi...
Article
Full-text available
Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is one of the most aggressive solid malignancies due to the rapid rate of metastasis and high resistance to currently applied cancer therapies. The complex mechanism underlying the development and progression of PDAC includes interactions between genomic, epigenomic, and signaling pathway alterations. In this...
Article
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Pancreatic cancer stem cells (PaCSCs) drive pancreatic cancer tumorigenesis, chemoresistance and metastasis. While eliminating this subpopulation of cells would theoretically result in tumor eradication, PaCSCs are extremely plastic and can successfully adapt to targeted therapies. In this study, we demonstrate that PaCSCs increase expression of in...
Article
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Background The 5-year survival rate of patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is around 5% due to the fact that the majority of patients present with advanced disease that is treatment resistant. Familial pancreatic cancer (FPC) is a rare disorder that is defined as a family with at least two affected first degree relatives, with an...
Article
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Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is an inherently chemoresistant tumor. Chemotherapy leads to apoptosis of cancer cells, and in previous studies we have shown that tumor-associated macrophage (TAM) infiltration increases following chemotherapy in PDAC. Since one of the main functions of macrophages is to eliminate apoptotic cells, we hypothe...
Article
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Opinion Adenocarcinoma of the pancreas (PDAC) accounts for 2.4% of all cancers diagnosed and is the fourth leading cause of cancer death, with almost equal rates of incidence and mortality [1]. By 2030, pancreatic cancer is projected to be the second leading cause of cancer-related death [2], surpassing breast, prostate and colorectal cancer. The o...
Article
e13517 Background: Glioblastoma (GB) is an aggressive tumor. Circulating Endothelial Cells (CECs) can be detected in peripheral blood and have been related to angiogenesis. CECs have an unclear prognostic value in patients with glioblastoma. The objective of this study was to quantify the presence and number of CECs in GB patients and determine its...
Article
Full-text available
Background: Widespread abdominal imaging has led to a substantial increase in the detection of incidentalomas. Currently, an increasing number of centers offer surveillance of the pancreas to individuals at high risk (IARs) of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). Objective: The aims of this study were to evaluate the frequency and type of in...
Article
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Exosome production from cancer-associated fibroblasts seems to be an important driver of tumor progression. We report the first in-depth biotype characterization of ncRNAs, analyzed by Next Generation Sequencing and Bioinformatics, expressed in established primary human normal and cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) from cancer and normal mucosa t...
Article
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Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDA) is the most frequent type of pancreatic cancer and one of the deadliest diseases overall. New biomarkers are urgently needed to allow early diagnosis, one of the only factors that currently improves prognosis. Here we analyzed whether the detection of circulating galectin-1 (Gal-1), a soluble carbohydrate-bind...