From 23 to 27 October 2026, RespirERA Institute was represented by its Director, Professor Paul Hofman, at the ESMO Congress in Madrid. His activities included attending the ECGP meeting and contributing to the presentation of collaborative research with the ETOP group on lung cancer.
The European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress brings together professionals involved in cancer research and care. For RespirERA Institute, this edition provided an opportunity to share research on biomarkers (biological characteristics that provide information about a disease) and take part in European discussions on access to genomic testing.
Discussing access to comprehensive genomic profiling
Professor Paul Hofman attended the meeting of the European Coalition for Access to Comprehensive Genomic Profiling (ECGP). Comprehensive genomic profiling is a test that looks for alterations across many genes within a tumour.
These analyses can help identify treatment options suited to the characteristics of a cancer, where such options are available. They can also help identify relevant clinical trials (studies involving patients to evaluate new medical approaches).
ECGP brings together healthcare professionals, patient representatives and industry stakeholders. It works to improve access to these tests and their reimbursement across Europe. This approach supports precision medicine (an approach that uses the biological characteristics of a disease to guide care).
Investigating a lung cancer biomarker with ETOP
The congress also featured the presentation of collaborative research from the ETOP Lungscope project, co-authored by Professor Paul Hofman. The project draws on a biobank (a collection of biological samples linked to medical information) dedicated to non-small cell lung cancer (a group of lung cancers).
The study focused on MTAP, a protein involved in cellular processes. Its absence in some tumours is being investigated as a potential biomarker to identify patients who may be eligible for clinical trials of targeted treatments.
The researchers analysed samples from 333 patients across 12 centres in 7 countries. They compared the presence or absence of MTAP in the primary tumour and its matched metastases (cancerous growths that develop elsewhere in the body after spreading from the original tumour).
Findings that could support patient selection for clinical trials
MTAP deficiency was observed in approximately 20% of the primary tumours in the study series. MTAP status was consistent between the primary tumour and its matched metastases in 96% of the 266 comparable sample pairs, after excluding samples that could not be assessed or had uncertain results.
After accounting for age and certain genetic characteristics of the tumours, MTAP deficiency was also associated with shorter overall survival in the study population.
These findings support the use of stored tissue samples to assess MTAP and identify patients for biomarker-driven clinical trials. This was a retrospective analysis (based on previously collected samples and data), which did not assess the effectiveness of a treatment.
Through Professor Paul Hofman’s contribution, RespirERA Institute participates in an international collaboration seeking to better characterise lung cancers and refine patient selection criteria for clinical research.
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