A review article led by researchers from the B·ARGO group at the Germans Trias i Pujol Research Institute (IGTP) and from the Medical Oncology Department of the Catalan Institute of Oncology (ICO) in Badalona provides a comparative analysis of the impact of BRAF gene mutations in melanoma and colorectal cancer (CRC). These are two tumour types in which the same oncogenic alteration -the BRAFV600E mutation- results in markedly different therapeutic outcomes when treated with BRAF inhibitors. The work has been published in the journal BBA Reviews on Cancer .
Targeted therapies against BRAF have represented a paradigm shift in the treatment of melanoma, whereas their effectiveness in colorectal cancer remains limited. This review explores the molecular, cellular and tumour microenvironment factors that explain this therapeutic dichotomy, offering an integrated view of resistance mechanisms, adaptive responses and the importance of tumour context in determining treatment response.
The work adopts a clearly translational perspective, combining a mechanistic biological analysis with a critical synthesis of the main clinical trials. In this regard, the authors highlight the limitations of tissue-agnostic therapeutic approaches and review the potential of liquid biopsy as a tool to improve patient stratification and monitoring of treatment response. The article also discusses emerging therapeutic strategies supported by recent clinical evidence.
According to Anna Martínez-Cardús, corresponding author of the study, "the author list reflects the joint work of a multidisciplinary team with expertise in molecular biology, clinical oncology and translational research within the CARE program at IGTP. This diversity enables an integrated perspective that links the biological processes associated with BRAF mutations to their clinical relevance in the context of personalised medicine" .
This review contributes to a better understanding of the biological and clinical determinants that shape responses to BRAF-targeted therapies and reinforces the importance of approaches tailored to tumour context in advancing personalised cancer treatment.
The article is authored by Carme Solé-Blanch and Sofia España as co-first authors, together with Alba de la Puente-Noel, Oskar Marin-Béjar, José Luis Manzano and Anna Martínez-Cardús as corresponding author. All authors are affiliated with the CARE program at IGTP, with several holding joint IGTP/ICO appointments.
Biochimica et Biophysica Acta
Literature review
Cells
Same mutation, different fates: The Yin-Yang of BRAF-driven therapeutic responses in melanoma and colorectal cancer
5-Dec-2025
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.