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Metabolism and cancer
Menendez’s Lab

DESCRIPTION

Unlocking the metabolic secrets of cancer: Our “Metabolism and Cancer” team studies how cellular metabolism drives cancer growth, drug resistance, and metastasis. We use cutting-edge laboratory experiments, computational tools and clinical trials to validate our discoveries in cancer patients.

MAIN RESEARCH LINES

  1. CANCER METABOLISM

    Metabolic inhibitors for cancer therapy

    • Metabolic mechanisms of tumorigenesis & drug resistance
    • Clinical development of anti-cancer metabolic drugs

    Mitochondria, senescence, and cancer

    • Mitochondria-based elimination of tumor-/metastasis-initiating cells
    • Metabolic therapy-induced senescence (MTIS)

    Metabolo-immunotherapy

    • Tumor cell-intrinsic immunometabolism 
    • Metabolic/dietary interventions and immunotherapy 
  2. BIOCOMPOUNDS
    • Natural biocompounds for cancer treatment
  3. COMPUTATIONAL BIOLOGY & CHEMISTRY
    • Mathematical modeling of cancer
    • Computational design of anti-cancer metabolic drugs

Javier A. Menendez

Group leaders

IP

Elisabet Cuyàs

Researchers

Established researcher (Miguel Servet)

Eila Serrano Hervás

Researchers

Postdoctoral researcher (INVESTIGO)

Sara Verdura

Researchers

Predoctoral researcher

Àngela Llop Hernández

Young investigators

Predoctoral researcher

Júlia López

Young investigators

Predoctoral researcher

Begoña Martín Castillo

Researchers

Established researcher (Unit of Clinical Research, ICO-Girona)

Eugeni López Bonet

Researchers

Established researcher (Hospital Trueta)

Direct Ink Writing of 3D-Structured All-Carbon Electrodes with High Electrical Conductivity for (Vanadium) Redox Flow Batteries

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Adv Sci (Weinh). 2025 May 15:e2417641. doi: 10.1002/advs.202417641. Online ahead of print. ABSTRACT Redox flow batteries are attractive systems for large-scale energy storage due to their capability to uncouple energy and power but still need to make several improvements to reach full commercial scale. The need to search for better components, including electrode materials that […]

Lead exposure, peripheral neurotransmitter levels and cognitive control: A neurobehavioral study in children from Montevideo, Uruguay

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Neurotoxicology. 2025 Apr 4:S0161-813X(25)00035-X. doi: 10.1016/j.neuro.2025.03.009. Online ahead of print. ABSTRACT INTRODUCTION: Lead exposure has been linked to significant brain disruptions. However, research on the neural correlates of blood lead level (BLL) and cognitive control remains limited. To address this gap, we investigated event-related potentials (ERPs) during an inhibition task, in conjunction with measurements of […]

Harnessing transcriptional regulation of alternative end-joining to predict cancer treatment

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NAR Cancer. 2025 Mar 7;7(1):zcaf007. doi: 10.1093/narcan/zcaf007. eCollection 2025 Mar. ABSTRACT Alternative end-joining (alt-EJ) is an error-prone DNA repair pathway that cancer cells deficient in homologous recombination rely on, making them vulnerable to synthetic lethality via inhibition of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP). Targeting alt-EJ effector DNA polymerase theta (POLθ), which synergizes with PARP inhibitors and can […]

Mitochondrial priming and response to BH3 mimetics in “one-two punch” senogenic-senolytic strategies

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Cell Death Discov. 2025 Mar 7;11(1):91. doi: 10.1038/s41420-025-02379-y. ABSTRACT A one-two punch sequential regimen of senescence-inducing agents followed by senolytic drugs has emerged as a novel therapeutic strategy in cancer. Unfortunately, cancer cells undergoing therapy-induced senescence (TIS) vary widely in their sensitivity to senotherapeutics, and companion diagnostics to predict the response of TIS cancer cells […]

Fatty acid synthase (FASN) inhibition cooperates with BH3 mimetic drugs to overcome resistance to mitochondrial apoptosis in pancreatic cancer

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Neoplasia. 2025 Feb 24;62:101143. doi: 10.1016/j.neo.2025.101143. Online ahead of print. ABSTRACT Resistance to mitochondrial apoptosis is a major driver of chemoresistance in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). However, pharmacological manipulation of the mitochondrial apoptosis threshold in PDAC cells remains an unmet therapeutic goal. We hypothesized that fatty acid synthase inhibitors (FASNis), a family of targeted metabolic […]

Ruth Lupu | Mayo Clinic, Rochester, USA

Pilar Blancafort | Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research, Perth, Australia

Francesca Cutruzzolà | Sapienza University, Rome, Italy

Tomás Alarcón | ICREA-Centre de Recerca Matemàtica (CRM), Reus, Spain

Sílvia Osuna | ICREA-Institut de Química Computacional i Catàlisi (IQCC), Girona, Spain

Josep Sardanyés | Centre de Recerca Matemàtica (CRM), Barcelona, Spain

José Antonio Encinar | Universidad Miguel Hernández, Elche, Spain

Vicente Micol | Universidad Miguel Hernández, Elche, Spain

Antonio Segura-Carretero | Universidad de Granada, Granada, Spain

Jorge Joven | Institut d’Investigació Sanitària Pere Virgili (IISPV), Reus, Spain

Carlos Peña Garay | Laboratorio Subterráneo de Canfranc (LSC), Spain

Menendez grup. Research group photo
Program Against Cancer Therapeutic Resistance

CONTACT US

Campus IDIBELL
(L’Hospitalet del Llobregat)
Hospital Duran i Reynals, Gran Via 199,
L’Hospitalet del Llobregat,
Barcelona 08908
Tel. +34 93 260 7952

Campus IGTP-IJC
(Badalona)
Campus Can Ruti – IGTP – Building Muntanya,
Rd. Can Ruti, Camí de les escoles s/n,
Badalona, Barcelona 08916
Tel. +34 93 554 3069

Campus IDIBGI
(Girona)
Parc Hospitalari Martí i Julià de Salt, Dr. Castany s/n,
Salt, Girona 17190
Tel. +34 872 987 087

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