The Viladecans Association Against Cancer has reaffirmed, once again, its commitment to biomedical research and the good relationship with IDIBELL. In an event held on Tuesday, January 20 at the Ateneo de Entidades Pablo Picasso, the Association donated 47,870€ to IDIBELL. The event was attended by Maria Gato, president of the Association; Olga Morales, mayor of Viladecans; Gabriel Capellá, director of IDIBELL, and Josep Maria Piulats, who leads the main project this year.
An important part of this donation (35,500€) will be allocated towards an innovative biomedical research project against colorectal cancer led by Dr. Josep Maria Piulats, leader of the Cancer Immunotherapy group at IDIBELL-ICO. The rest will promote long-term projects led by Drs. Raúl Zamora (5,500€), leader of the Nutrition and Cancer group and who studies the impact of food on this disease, and Òscar Martínez-Tirado (6,870€), leader of the Sarcoma group and who focuses his research on the development of this type of tumour in children and young adults. The donation is the result of the solidarity campaigns that the Association has organized throughout 2025.
Research against colorectal cancer: overcoming the invisibility of the tumor
Colorectal cancer is a very prevalent disease. It is not the most common cancer in men (prostate cancer), nor in women (breast cancer), but it can affect both sexes and so it ends up being the most common in the world along with lung cancer.
Screening programs implemented at the population level have been very useful to advance diagnosis and thus maximize the success of therapies. However, “Because it is such a frequent disease, metastases, which are usually located in the liver, also end up being frequent. When they appear we are talking about a disease that unfortunately does not have a cure,” explains Dr. Piulats. The main problem is that the tumor becomes invisible to the immune system, and the body’s natural defenses are not able to cope with it.
The IDIBELL research project seeks, precisely, to make visible the colorectal cancer tumours that have reached the liver. To do this, as Dr. Piulats explains, “the idea is to find chemical compounds capable of reactivating the patient’s immunity so that they can recognize and attack cancer”. And they will be helped with artificial intelligence. Thanks to AI, it will be possible to accelerate the time it would take to discover compounds capable of reactivating lymphocytes. In the future, it is expected to reach patients: either by directly administering these compounds that enhance immunity, as part of a new therapeutic strategy, or by administering the reactivated defenses to try to eliminate the tumor.
The Association and IDIBELL: almost 10 years of collaboration
Since 2016, the Viladecans Association Against Cancer has been a constant support for IDIBELL. To date and during the almost 10 years they have been collaborating, they have contributed a total of 216,736€ to public biomedical research, especially aimed at the fight against cancer.
“Their support goes far beyond the economic aspect,” says Gabriel Capellá, director of IDIBELL. “Contacting with them allows us to be close to patients and society in general, which is why we do the research we do”. This year, with the 10th anniversary of the collaboration between both entities, it is certain that the Viladecans solidarity trace will continue to promote the research of IDIBELL and the medicine of the future.
The Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL) is a research center created in 2004 and specialized in cancer, neuroscience, translational medicine and regenerative medicine. It has a team of more than 1,500 professionals who, from 73 research groups, publish more than 1,400 scientific articles per year. IDIBELL is participated by the Bellvitge University Hospital and the Viladecans Hospital of the Catalan Institute of Health, the Catalan Institute of Oncology, the University of Barcelona and the City Council of L Hospitalet de Llobregat.
IDIBELL is a member of the Campus of International Excellence of the University of Barcelona HUBc and is part of the CERCA institution of the Generalitat de Catalunya. In 2009 it became one of the first five Spanish research centres accredited as a health research institute by the Carlos III Health Institute. In addition, it is part of the HR Excellence in Research program of the European Union and is a member of EATRIS and REGIC. Since 2018, IDIBELL is an Accredited Center of the AECC Scientific Foundation (FCAECC).