Antonio Brú facts for kids

Antonio Brú Espino, born in 1962, is a smart scientist from Spain. He is a professor of Applied Mathematics at the Complutense University of Madrid. He is known for his interesting ideas about how cancer grows.

Antonio Brú earned his PhD in physics in 1995 from the Complutense University of Madrid. He started his research in 1989, studying how energy and the environment affect things. In 1993, he began his own research group to study how tumors grow. Later, in 2002, he moved to work at the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), which is a big science organization in Spain.

Understanding Cancer Growth

Professor Brú is famous for his ideas about how solid tumors grow. A solid tumor is a lump of cancer cells. He believes that tumors grow mostly because they are looking for space, not just for food.

How Tumors Grow: A New Idea

Brú's theory suggests that tumors grow in a special way, like a fractal. A fractal is a shape that looks the same no matter how much you zoom in or out. His studies showed that tumor cells grow more quickly around the edges of the tumor. He called this the Universal Dynamics of Tumour Growth. This idea is now seen as one possible way to describe how tumors grow.

Boosting the Body's Defenses

Another part of Brú's theory is about treating solid tumors. He thinks they might be treated by making the body's immune system stronger. He suggests using a medicine called Neupogen. This medicine helps the body make more neutrophils, which are a type of white blood cell. These cells are important for fighting infections and are often used in Oncology (cancer treatment) to help patients recover after Chemotherapy.

Brú believes that if many neutrophils gather near the edge of a tumor, they could block its growth. He has shared his research in science journals like Europhysics Letters, the Biophysical Journal, and Physical Review Letters.

Why Clinical Trials Are Important

Professor Brú has asked for the chance to do clinical trials. These trials are special studies where new treatments are tested on people to see if they work and are safe. This would help confirm his research results. However, it has been difficult to start these trials.

One attempt to do a trial at a hospital in Madrid did not work out. This was because of a few reasons:

• There were not enough patients planned for the study to get clear results.
• Information given to patients about the study included a risk of death that Brú did not know about.
• There was disagreement among the people who would have been part of the research team.

In 2007, Brú suggested a new trial for Prostate cancer to a foundation in Barcelona, but it was not approved. Scientists continue to study cancer and look for new ways to understand and treat it.

See also

In Spanish: Antonio Brú para niños