Princess Letizia has chaired the conference on the 60th anniversary of the Spanish Association against Cancer (AECC) held on September 19 at the Palacio de Congresos de Madrid. The 2013 research grants awarded by the association were bestowed during the event.

One of the five year grants, funded with one million two hundred thousand euros, and assigned to a stable coordinated group as for the research project in Ewing’s Sarcoma, a type of childhood cancer located in bone. The group is made ​​up of doctors and researchers of the University Hospital Virgen del Rocío, Sevilla, led by Enrique de Alava, of the San Juan de Dios Hospital led by Jaume Mora, and of the Sarcoma Research Group at the Institute of Biomedical Research (IDIBELL ) headed by Oscar Martinez-Tirado.

Ewing sarcoma is the second most common bone cancer and affects children and youth. Currently, if diagnosed in time and presents no metastasis, it can be cured in 80% of the cases, but between 25% and 30% of cases are diagnosed when it has metastasized and survival drops to 30%.

Coinciding with its 60th anniversary, the AECC has granted more than four million euros for seven new research projects and for the stabilization of eleven researchers so that they can continue to carry out their research. In total, the AEEC committed during 2013 about 14 million in cancer research.