Tag Archives: AECC

Biodonostia’s coordination of an INTER-CIBEREHD project to combat bladder cancer funded with a €300,000 grant from AECC

The Osakidetza Biodonostia Health Research Institute will be coordinating a collaborative research project with a duration of approximately three years focused on conducting research on a rare type of bladder cancer, cholangiocarcinoma (CCA), which claims the lives of 70,000 people worldwide each year.

The heads of the four participating groups, the University of Salamanca, CICBiogune, CIMA–The University of Navarre and IIS Biodonostia de Osakidetza, recently met in Salamanca to kick start this project that will allow more to be learnt about the processes that determine the origin and progression of CCA, as well as to generate new treatment strategies.

Liver cancer is currently the 2nd leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide. Cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) accounts for 10% of the 70,000 deaths from liver cancer. This type of tumour has very low survival rates, partially due to how it is diagnosed when the disease is already advanced as well as how it affects patients considered to be frail, i.e., over the age of 60 and who have other conditions, such as respiratory and heart failure, diabetes, etc. There is generally no treatment available that can cure the tumours, very few are operable and those that may be treated with antitumour drugs have a low response rate, due to how highly-resistant CCA is to chemotherapy.

A great deal of the project’s work will be focused on multidisciplinary research into CCA in order to find out the processes that determine its origin and development, and to identify new biomarkers that allow for the early detection of the tumour and develop new strategies (of a pharmacological nature and gene or cell therapy) in order to provide improved treatment to patients affected and to improve their prospects for survival.

Four groups of researchers belonging to Ciberehd from the Instituto Carlos III (ISCIII) are participating in the multidisciplinary research project, led by their respective directors, Doctors José Juan García Marín (The University of Salamanca), María Luz Martínez-Chantar (CICBiogune), Matías Ávila Zaragoza (CIMA- The University of Navarre) and Jesus Bañales Asurmendi, (Researcher from Ikerbasque, from IIS Biodonostia), who is also the project coordinator. It is also backed by the European Network for the Study of Cholangiocarcinoma (ENSCCA), composed of 40 groups from across 13 countries.

The project has received a research grant from the Spanish Association against Cancer (AECC)’s Scientific Foundation, for the study of “rare cancers”. This grant has been fully financed by the Regional Government of Gipuzkoa.

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Dra. Martínez-Chantar, Dr. García Marín, Dr. Ávila, Dña. Inmaculada Rodriguez (Presidenta AECC-Salamanca) & Dr. Bañales (left to right).

The AECC has awarded cancer research grants to IIS Biodonostia researchers

The Spanish Association against Cancer (AECC) has awarded 13 cancer research grants totalling 5.2 million Euros, including two for IIS Biodonostia researchers, Marta Fernández-Mercado and Paula Aldaz.

Paula Aldaz, researcher for the IIS Biodonostia Neuro-Oncology Group, has received funding totalling 75,000 Euros to develop her doctoral thesis “SOX9 function in glioblastoma.” Her aim is to find new molecular targets in treating glioblastoma, one of the most malign brain tumours.

Dr Marta Fernández-Mercado, researcher in the Hemato-Oncology Group at IIS Biodonostia, has been awarded 135,000 Euros to study the usefulness of microRNAs in diffuse large B-cell lymphomas, the most frequent type of lymphoma (representing 40% of lymphomas, found in 3 out of every 100,000 people).

Both highlighted the importance of this funding to provide stability to projects aiming to improve quality of life for cancer patients, increasing their chances of getting over this disease.

The award ceremony took place in the Victoria Eugenia Theatre in San Sebastián on 17th September 2014 and was presided over by Queen Letizia; the Spanish Minister for Health, Social Services and Equality, Ana Mato; the Basque Government Health Minister, Jon Darpón; the association president, Isabel Oriol and the association president in the Basque Country, Fernando Pesquera, among others.

Fernando Pesquera highlighted the “need to continue research, as this is the only way of finding a possible remedy or solution to cancer.” In this respect, he highlighted the importance of IIS Biodonostia, that “in its short lifespan has managed to become a benchmark Research Centre internationally and the main Research Institute in the Basque Country, thanks to its researchers’ work and enthusiasm.”

In turn, Queen Letizia congratulated the winners and praised the AECC’s work over these last 61 years as they have managed not only to support and advise cancer patients and their families but also promote scientific and research activity in this field.