Department of Pathology
VU University Medical Center
PO Box 7057
1007 MB Amsterdam
The Netherlands
phone: +31 20 4444852
e-mail: b.diosdado@vumc.nl
Secondary prevention of colorectal cancer
Colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in the Western world with 4400 deaths per year in the Netherlands. Secondary prevention is the most realistic approach for reducing this high number of colorectal cancer deaths. Current possibilities for colorectal cancer screening include colonoscopy, sigmoidoscopy, detection of known genetic alterations and occult blood testing in stool samples. However, these tests still need improvement as they are too costly or either not sensitive enough or too laborious to translate into population screening tests. In this setting, the current research is focused on developing an optimal faeces DNA test for colorectal cancer based on novel DNA markers identified in our lab.
Identification and characterization of microRNAs implicated in colorectal
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are 19-25 nucleotides non-coding RNA molecules, which act by silencing the expression of their target genes by blocking their translation or, by inducing the RNA mediated interference pathway and thus degrading their mRNA. Functional studies have shown that miRNAs contribute to tumour development by gain or loss of their function due to mutations or altered expression. Our aim is to identify and characterize miRNAs involved in colorectal, the mechanisms that lead to their altered expression and determine through which pathways they contribute to this malignancy.
Begoña Diosdado is a medical doctor interested in translational as well as basic cancer research. During her medical school she had the opportunity to collaborate in a project that aimed to detect mutations in hereditary colon cancer at the Department of Biochemistry, in the Medical School , University of Nuevo León , Mexico and at the Department of Biochemistry and Physiology, University of Valladolid . The aim of this study was to identify mutations in the hereditary breast cancer genes, BRCA1 and BRCA2. During the last year of her study she was awarded a Leonardo grant from the European Union to work at the Department of Medical Genetics, University Medical Center Utrecht, in the Netherlands . The aim of this work was to identify the genetic variation in the calpain-10 gene in the type 2 diabetes mellitus population of Breda, under the supervision of J. van Tilburg and Dr. C. Wijmenga. This led to a PhD place in the Complex Genetics Section, under the supervision of Prof. C. Wijmenga. The aim of her PhD studies was to unravel the molecular mechanisms responsible for the pathogenesis of coeliac disease. The studies performed in this project led to the identification of novel pathways involved in the initial inflammation processes and further progression towards mucosal transformation and the identification of putative causative genes in coeliac disease. These finds led to the publication of her PhD thesis in March 2006 titled "The puzzle of coeliac disease: pieces of the pathogenesis". Since 1st February 2006 she has held a postdoctoral fellowship in the Tumor Profiling Group led by Prof. Gerrit Meijer, in the Department of Pathology of the VUmc. Since 1-2-2009 she is a resident in pathology in the department of pathology.
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