The Oncolliga Girona Foundation has made a new donation to the ovarian cancer research being carried out by the Precision Oncology research group (OncoGir-Pro) at the Girona Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBGI) and the Catalan Institute of Oncology (ICO). The project, led by oncologist Pilar Barretina Ginesta, has already received an initial donation of 30,000 euros from the proceeds of the Oncotrail 2021 and has now received a further 40,000 euros, thanks to the funds raised in the last edition of the solidarity trail, held last October.
Ovarian cancer is a rare pathology compared to other cancers, but it is in great need of research to find new therapeutic strategies to tackle it.
Most cases of epithelial ovarian cancer are diagnosed at an advanced stage. Despite advances in cancer treatments, many of these patients’ relapse, and as a result, their prognosis can worsen.
The study being carried out aims to identify the clinical and molecular characteristics of patients who, although they initially have a poor prognosis, after receiving treatment do not relapse or, if they do, live for years responding to successive treatments.
"Knowing the characteristics of patients who are long survivors may allow us to discover ways to better treat those who do not have such a good prognosis, as well as opening the door to developing new drugs," says Dr Barretina. At the same time, this knowledge should allow us to personalise treatments more, avoiding overtreatment of patients that we identify with the characteristics of long survivors.
About Oncotrail
Oncotrail is a sporting and solidarity challenge that was born in 2013 with the aim of raising money to be used entirely to improve the quality of life of cancer patients and their families. The event is run by teams and consists of a 100 km run along the trails of the Costa Brava and Les Gavarres, starting and finishing in Palafrugell. In the last edition, the ninth, held in October 2022, a total of 381,000 euros was raised, which has been used to provide hospitals in the province of Girona with material to improve the comfort of cancer patients, to open new care services for the Foundation and to contribute to research into the disease.
