Cima participates in an international study aimed at personalizing immunotherapy in lung cancer patients
The EPILUNAR project aims to identify, through blood tests and artificial intelligence, which patients respond most effectively to immunotherapy and to detect the emergence of resistance to treatment.
FotoManuelCastells
/(From left to right). Doctors José Luis Pérez Gracia, Allan Argueta, Alfonso Calvo, Luis Montuenga and Miguel F. Sanmamed, from Cima and the Clínica Universidad de Navarra.
04 | 03 | 2025
The Cima University of Navarra is part of a new international study that aims to develop personalized immunotherapies for lung cancer patients. The project, led by the Complejo Hospitalario Universitario de Santiago and coordinated by the research center Biomédica en network (CIBER), also counts with the participation of the Clínica Universidad de Navarra and the partnership of other centers in Spain, France, Germany and Turkey.
Immunotherapy has been a revolutionary breakthrough in the treatment of lung cancer, but not all patients respond effectively to this subject therapy. The EPILUNAR project goal to identify precisely, and in a non-invasive way, which patients will benefit from this treatment in order to increase its efficacy and reduce unnecessary side effects.
"In this study we will use liquid biopsy, a technique that allows us to analyze the DNA circulating in the blood of patients. With the support of artificial intelligence, we will be able to detect epigenetic core topic biomarkers to predict the response of lung cancer patients to immunotherapy and detect the appearance of resistance," explain Dr. Luis Montuenga and Dr. Alfonso Calvo, researchers at the Cima University of Navarra who are participating in the project, which is part of the Lung Cancer area of the Cancer Center Clínica Universidad de Navarra.
Samples from 250 patients
The project scientists will analyze blood samples from about 250 patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer, who will be recruited from the Clínica Universidad de Navarra, the Complejo Hospitalario Universitario de Santiago, the Hospital General de Valencia and the Hospital Universitario 12 de Octubre in Madrid.
"The data obtained will help us to understand in a more dynamic way the possible resistance to immunotherapy and this could facilitate a more personalized treatment," say Dr. Miguel F. Sanmamed and Dr. José Luis Pérez Gracia, medical oncologists of the Lung Cancer area of the Cancer Center Clínica Universidad de Navarra.
The EPILUNAR project has been funded with 1.2 million euros, thanks to the support of the European financial aid TRANSCAN 3 - JTC 2023, with the participation of the Spanish association Against Cancer and the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII), among other international and national funding agencies.
