Cancer immunotherapy
Alemany’s & Piulats’s lab

DESCRIPTION

Our main aim is to develop new anticancer treatments based on novel designs of oncolytic adenoviruses, combining them with mesenchymal stem cells and cellular therapies derived from tumor reactive T-lymphocytes against solid tumors.

The Cancer Immunotherapy group, led by Dr Piulats and Dr Alemany, is dedicated to develop new immunotherapies based on oncolytic adenoviruses or advanced therapy medicinal products (ATMPs) to treat the so-called “cold” tumors and rare malignancies. Oncolytic viruses represent a double antitumor strategy: they have an oncolytic activity and on top of that, they promote lymphocyte infiltration and immune responses against tumors. We are designing and evaluating new oncolytic adenovirus to improve their Intratumor diffusion and tumor reactivity and testing those using murine models. We are developing CAR-NK cells models, cell therapies based on autoreactive TCRs from patients and combined ATMP using virus and mesenchymal stem cells. We combine clinical and translational research, and we have led different clinical trials based on immunotherapy, demonstrating the feasibility of immunotherapy approaches to treat this kind of tumors.

Group members

Ramón Alemany Bonastre

Group leaders

Josep Maria Piulats Rodríguez

Group leaders

Publications

Oncolytic adenovirus incorporating TetO sites in the E1A promoter for controlled replication in TetR-expressing mesenchymal stem cells

7 de August de 2026/in Alemany’s & Piulats’s lab/by

Mol Ther Oncol. 2026 Jul 10;34(3):201291. doi: 10.1016/j.omton.2026.201291. eCollection 2026 Sep 17. ABSTRACT Oncolytic viruses are therapeutic agents that combine self-amplification, lytic activity, and immunostimulatory properties. However, their systemic administration is limited by inefficient tumor delivery. Although mesenchymal stem cell (MSC)-based carrier systems have been proposed to overcome these barriers, their efficacy is restricted by […]

[177Lu]Lu-PSMA-617 in patients with PSMA-positive metastatic androgen pathway modulator-naive/sensitive prostate cancer (PSMAddition): a phase 3 randomised, controlled trial

6 de August de 2026/in Alemany’s & Piulats’s lab/by

Lancet. 2026 Aug 6:S0140-6736(26)01092-5. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(26)01092-5. Online ahead of print. ABSTRACT BACKGROUND: A contemporary standard of care for patients with metastatic androgen pathway modulator-naive/sensitive (APMN/S) prostate cancer (also known as metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer) is androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) plus an androgen receptor pathway inhibitor (ARPI) until progression. PSMAddition aimed to evaluate the efficacy and […]

Phase I trial of intravenous VCN-01 oncolytic adenovirus and durvalumab in patients with head and neck metastatic squamous cell carcinoma refractory to immunotherapy

8 de June de 2026/in Alemany’s & Piulats’s lab/by

Clin Cancer Res. 2026 Jun 8. doi: 10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-26-0601. Online ahead of print. ABSTRACT PURPOSE: VCN-01 is a hyaluronidase-expressing oncolytic adenovirus that increases immune checkpoint antibody tumor uptake in mice. VCN-01 was evaluated with durvalumab in recurrent/metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) patients refractory to anti-PD-(L)1. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Patients received intravenous VCN-01 (3.3E12 […]

Editorial: Current insights in melanoma immunology, immune escape and immunotherapy advances

8 de June de 2026/in Alemany’s & Piulats’s lab/by

Front Immunol. 2026 May 18;17:1868805. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2026.1868805. eCollection 2026. NO ABSTRACT PMID:42253949 | PMC:PMC13234499 | DOI:10.3389/fimmu.2026.1868805

Five-Year Survival with Tebentafusp in Metastatic Uveal Melanoma

20 de May de 2026/in Alemany’s & Piulats’s lab/by

Ann Oncol. 2026 May 19:S0923-7534(26)00879-3. doi: 10.1016/j.annonc.2026.05.695. Online ahead of print. ABSTRACT BACKGROUND: Tebentafusp demonstrated an overall survival benefit compared to investigator’s choice in a phase 3 trial in HLA-A*02:01-positive adult patients with unresectable or metastatic uveal melanoma (mUM) and is now the first-line standard of care for this population. Here we report the final […]

Research Projects

Name: Dr Ramón Alemany Bonastre
Role: Group leader (coPI)

Name: Dr Josep Maria Piulats Rodríguez, MD
Role: Group leader (coPI)

Name: Dr Rafael Moreno Olié
Role: Principal Investigator

Name: Dr María Dolores López Robles
Role: Postdoctoral researcher

Name: Dr Marcel Costa García
Role: Postdoctoral Researcher

Name: Dr Gabriel Espinosa Carrasco
Role: Postdoctoral researcher

Name: Sílvia Torres Manjón
Role: Lab manager

Name: Laura Moya Borrrego
Role: Predoctoral Researcher

Name: Pau Fiol Mata
Role: Predoctoral Researcher

Name: Luís Paul del Carpio Huerta, MD
Role: Predoctoral Researcher (Rio Ortega contract)

Name: Juan Antonio Marín Jiménez, MD
Role: Predoctoral Researcher (La Caixa- Inphinit Retaining)

Name: Sebastián Ciro Carné Martín
Role: Predoctoral Researcher

Name: Ainhoa Muñoz Metrino
Role: Technician

Name: Dr Carles Codony Servat
Role: Project manager

Collaborations

Dr Alemany has published 129 articles, several book chapters and 16 patents (5 in the exploitation phase) in the field of therapeutic use of adenoviruses as gene vectors or oncolytic viruses. Editor of the journals “Gene Therapy” “Cancer Gene Therapy” and “Human Gene Therapy”, President of the Spanish Society of Gene and Cellular Therapy from 2016 to 2018, and advisor to several biotech companies that develop oncolytic viruses (ORCA Therapeutics, Oncolytics Biotech, Sagetis). In 2009 he co-founded the company VCN Biosciences. GHe collaborates among othersc with: Cristina Fillat Fonts, IDIBAPS; Juan José Rojas Expósito, IDIBELL; Javier García Castro, ISCIII , Madrid; Manuel Ramírez Orellana, Hosp Niño Jesús, Madrid; Alena Gros Vidal, VHIO; Sonia Guedan Carrió, IDIBAPS.

Dr Piulats is chair for Uveal Melanoma in the Spanish Melanoma group. He is part of the IRCI (International Rare Cancer Initiative) and EURACAN for rare melanoma and rare cutaneous tumors. He collaborates with Dr Alvaro Aytes (Idibell) and Dr Himisha Beltran (Dana Farber) in prostate cancer (projects Fundación Mútua Madrileña and DoD Prostate Cancer) and with Dr Xavier Matías-Guiu and Dr Alena Gros in Gynecologic tumors (La MaratóTV3, Immune4all in Ayudas de Proyectos de Investigación de Medicina Personalizada de Precisión). He collaborates with Dr Moreno (ICO-Idibell) and Dr África González Murillo (Hospital Universitario del Niño Jesús) in the PULSE-UM clinical study and with Dr Juan Marín Liberal (ICO), Drs Alena Gros, Elena Garralda (VHIO), Dr Sergi Querol (Banc de sang i Teixits) and Dr Jesús García-Donas Jiménez (Centro Integral Oncológico Clara Campal) (Proyectos Clinica Independiente – ISCIII).

Presently Dr Piulats has begun a collaboration asking for new funding for novel treatments in metastatic uveal melanoma with Alena Gros (VHIO), Gal Cafri and Yochai Wolf from Sheba Research Institute in Israel and Udai Kammula from UPMC in USA.

Dr Moreno collaborates in the development of NK-CAR cells with Dr Ana Sureda (ICO). He also collaborates with Dr. Marta Alonso (CIMA-University of Navarra) in the development towards a protocol and clinical application for GBM.

Cancer immunotherapy Alemany’s & Piulats’s lab

DESCRIPTION

Ramón Alemany Bonastre

Group leaders

Josep Maria Piulats Rodríguez

Group leaders

Rafael Moreno Olié

Researchers

María Dolores López Robles

Researchers

Gabriel Espinosa Carrasco

Researchers

Marcel Costa García

Researchers

Luís Paul del Carpio Huerta

Researchers

Juan Antonio Marín Jiménez

Young investigators

Laura Moya Borrego

Young investigators

Pau Fiol Mata

Young investigators

Sebastián Ciro Carné Martín

Young investigators

Silvia Torres Manjón

Support staff

Ainhoa Muñoz Metrino

Support staff

Carles Codony Servat

Support staff

CONTACT US

Cancer immunotherapy
Alemany’s & Piulats’s lab