Cancer research is a long-running race that continues to take place thanks not only to scientific rigour and excellence, but above all to the commitment of society. Last week, the Colorectal cancer research group of IDIBELL-ICO, led by Dr. Ramon Salazar, received a vital boost thanks to donations from the Peinado family, promoter of the Tania Project, and the Jut Contra el Cáncer Foundation.
The total amount amounts to 50,850€ collected between both entities through various solidarity actions. The funds will be allocated in full to one of the most promising areas of current oncology: immunotherapy. The project of Dr. Ramon Salazar, researcher and medical oncologist at IDIBELL-ICO, focuses on the ex vivo treatment of patients’ T cells, a type of immune cells, to make them more reactive against tumor cells.
A clinical trial in progress
As Dr. Salazar explained to the Peinado family and the members of Jut Contra el Cáncer during their visit to the IDIBELL laboratories, accompanied by Dr. Gabriel Capellá, director of IDIBELL, and Dr. Ernest Nadal, scientific director of ICO, “the process begins with a tumor biopsy, from which we extract the T lymphocytes, select the most suitable ones and treat them to reactivate them and make them stronger, before we readminister them to attack the cancer with more resources and guarantees”. The intention of IDIBELL-ICO researchers is to develop this therapeutic strategy for colorectal cancer patients who do not work with conventional chemotherapy.
And the immediate objective is clear. Next year, a clinical trial will start to treat these patients with resistance to chemotherapy. “Having received this donation gives us a great responsibility that we must respond to,” says Dr. Salazar. “And we will do so by promoting a new clinical trial, to reach patients as quickly as possible, in addition to financing the research career of a doctoral student who will join the project to help us make it a reality”.
This research is part of the action of the Bellvitge Health Campus as a Comprehensive Cancer Centre (CCC), the highest European recognition in the field of oncology, by the Organization of European Cancer Institutes (OECI). It is the only CCC in Spain and Catalonia in which four independent public institutions (Bellvitge Hospital, IDIBELL, ICO and UB) participate that address cancer in a coordinated and networked way with a team of more than 1,500 professionals who lead from research to prevention through comprehensive care.
Trust in research
For the Peinado family, the driving force of Proyecto Tania is born from their personal experience with cancer, an experience that has made them see science from a new perspective. “To go through such a situation teaches you that research is fundamental. Before it felt something distant, but when it touches so closely, you understand why so much money must be devoted to research,” explains José María Peinado, father of Tania. “The purpose is to end cancer, or at least to have it controlled, and without research it is not possible. Without research, we can’t move forward”.
Along the same lines, Kevin Ramos, president of the Jut Contra el Cáncer Foundation, wanted to encourage citizens to participate in solidarity events to support laboratories: “We have been able to see, first hand, where the money is going and what projects they have in mind to continue investigating,” he explains.
“For our part, we can only show gratitude: thank you, thank you and thank you. If we do all this, it is for you”, concludes Dr. Gabriel Capellá, director of IDIBELL.
The Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL) is a research center established in 2004 specialized in cancer, neuroscience, translational medicine, and regenerative medicine. It counts on 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 centers 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 has been an Accredited Center of the AECC Scientific Foundation (FCAECC).