The Oncolliga Girona Foundation has made a donation to cancer research carried out by the Institute of Biomedical Research of Girona (IDIBGI) and the Catalan Institute of Oncology (ICO). Specifically, Oncolliga's contribution of 30,000 euros will go to an ovarian cancer research project led by oncologist Pilar Barretina Ginesta, a researcher in the OncoGir-Pro research group (ICO-IDIBGI), coinciding with World Ovarian Cancer Day (May 8).
The president of Oncolliga Girona, Paqui Badosa, expressed her satisfaction at being able to contribute once again to cancer research with funds from the Oncotrail, the sports and solidarity challenge that the organization has been organizing for more than eight years. "After a blank year due to the Covid-19, last October we were able to resume this challenge with a new edition that was a success, both in terms of participation and fundraising. Thanks to this we have been able to contribute to improving the quality of life of the patients in the hospitals with the purchase of diverse material and also to once again make contributions to research, such as this one".
For her part, the oncologist Pilar Barretina, a researcher in the OncoGir-Pro group at ICO and IDIBGI, is grateful for the Oncolliga Girona donation: "Thanks to the effort and selfless collaboration of many people, we will give a boost to research in the field of ovarian cancer, a relatively rare pathology compared to other cancers but with a great need for research to find new therapeutic strategies".
Anticipating long survival in ovarian cancer
Most cases of epithelial ovarian cancer are diagnosed when they are already at an advanced stage. Despite advances in cancer treatments, most of these patients relapse, and because of this, their prognosis is not as good in many cases. The study that will be promoted thanks to Oncolliga Girona's donation aims to identify the clinical and molecular characteristics of patients who do not relapse or, if they do, live for years responding to successive treatments.
"Knowing the characteristics of patients who are long survivors can help us to discover ways to better treat those who do not have such a good prognosis, or to develop new drugs," says Barretina, adding: "this knowledge should allow us to personalize treatments, avoiding overtreatment of patients we identify with the characteristics of long survivors”.
