Fight Colorectal Cancer is thrilled to introduce the newest Lisa Fund award recipient, Dr. Noel FCC de Miranda. Dr. de Miranda has been awarded the 2015 Fight Colorectal Cancer-Michael’s Mission-AACR Fellowship to research early onset (under 50), late-stage colorectal cancer. This two-year grant will begin in July and will focus on increasing the ability of immune cells to eliminate colorectal cancer cells in these individuals.

de Miranda photo-2015LisaFund
2015 Lisa Fund winner, Noel F.C.C. de Miranda, Ph. D.

As  are increasing, this research is as important as ever. We had a chance to catch up with Dr. de Miranda about his work and what it means for patients.

1. How would you explain your research to patients?

The immune system plays an important role in counteracting cancer development. My research is aimed at increasing the ability of immune cells to recognize and eliminate cancer cells in individuals affected by early-onset colorectal cancer. The immune system is able to recognize abnormal proteins created by cancer cells, and therefore this creates the potential to recognize and eliminate these cancer cells. Often, a vigorous anti-cancer immune reaction is not naturally generated in colorectal cancer patients. I propose to develop a strategy where cancer-specific proteins could be used to elicit immune responses against cancer cells. To this end, cancer genomes will be analyzed by advanced sequencing technologies to determine which abnormal proteins can be used to stimulate anti-cancer immune responses in a personalized setting.

2.How did you become interested in colorectal cancer research?

Colorectal cancer was my first topic of research and altogether, I have accumulated more than seven years of experience in the study of this disease. During my undergraduate internship I have investigated some of the mechanisms that colorectal cancer cells employ in order to avoid being detected by the immune system. Later, this subject constituted the basis of my Ph. D. thesis. The fact that colorectal cancer remains one of the most frequent causes of cancer-related deaths has given me a strong drive to research this disease in order to improve therapies for patients.

3. Do you have a particular interest in early-onset colorectal cancer? Do these tumors look/respond differently than colorectal cancer in the over 50?

Although colorectal cancers are more frequent at later ages, during the last decades we have observed an increase in the incidence of this disease in younger individuals; probably a consequence of lifestyle changes such as dietary habits. As individuals under 50 are generally not included in screening programs for the early detection of colorectal cancer, this disease is often diagnosed at advanced stages in young patients. Furthermore, early-onset colorectal cancers frequently present with morphological and molecular characteristics that are associated with worse clinical outcomes. All of the above support my interest in performing medical research in this particular patient group and demand the development of innovative and more effective therapies.

4. What is one thing you want all of our patients and advocates to know - from a research perspective?

During the last decades we have observed fantastic developments in the fields of biology and medical research. Just recently we have started to apply state-of-the-art technologies for the detailed characterization of cancers. As our knowledge in cancer biology increases at an incredible pace, I believe that the discovery of novel therapeutic strategies to improve the care of cancer patients will be a natural consequence of this progress. As a researcher I am extremely committed to translate my findings as swiftly as possible for the benefit of cancer patients and, in particular, of early-onset colorectal cancer patients.

Thank you!

Thank you to all who donated and supported The Lisa Fund this year!

Lisa Fund Thank You-2015