This February 4, World Cancer Day, experts from hospitals, research centres and foundations met virtually with some 80 attendees, at the event organised by Nanomed Spain, to publicise the latest advances in nanomedicine against cancer. This is the seventh edition of the Nano World Cancer Day, an event that is fast becoming a benchmark in Spain.
The search for solutions to the family of diseases known as cancer is a global challenge. Cancer is one of the main causes of mortality and morbidity worldwide. Currently, it is estimated that one in six deaths worldwide is due to this group of diseases and, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), the number of patients suffering from some type of cancer could double by 2040.
In this context, nanomedicine, the discipline that takes advantage of systems which are a million times smaller than the thickness of a hair, has been identified as a priority both in the strategic agendas of the OECD countries, as well as of other emerging countries. Its implementation is focused on improving the quality of patient service, allowing progress towards a more personalized health technology, with an affordable cost level. In Spain, the platform that unites the efforts to apply nanomedicine to the fight against diseases is Nanomed Spain, coordinated by the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC).
Among the activities of Nanomed Spain is the Nano World Cancer Day, an event organised within the framework of World Cancer Day. In these conferences, the latest innovations in the field of NANOMEDICINE against CANCER, are revealed, with topics ranging from early diagnosis, controlled release of drugs or nanoparticle radiotherapy.
In the Nano World Cancer Day, experts in NANOMEDICINE from different fields -researchers, entrepreneurs, oncologists, and patients, present the latest advances, offering the opportunity to discover the progress that NANOMEDICINE represents for health, as a creator of new opportunities in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer, as well as the possibility that nanomedicine offers to the great European mission against cancer.
Seventh edition of the Nano World Cancer Day
This year, NANOMED Spain has organized the seventh edition of the conference, which was held virtually, due to the pandemic, in collaboration with VHIR (Vall d’Hebron Research Institute) and VHIO (Vall d’Hebron Institute of Oncology), with the support of CRIS Foundation and the Spanish Association Against Cancer (AECC).
During the reception, Teresa Sanchis, Executive Coordinator of NANOMED Spain, and Anna Santamaria, Head of Oncology and Deputy Director of Translational Research at VHIR, and Teresa Macarulla, from the Vall d’Hebron Institut d’Oncologia (VHIO) Gastrointestinal and Endocrine Tumors Group, have exposed the global challenge that cancer represents and the need for collaboration between all institutional and social agents.
Subsequently, Valentín Ceña, from the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Castilla-La Mancha, presented advances in how nanomedicine can contribute to one of the most serious cancers, glioblastoma, the brain tumor. Teresa Macarulla, from the Vall d’Hebron Institut d’Oncologia (VHIO) Gastrointestinal and Endocrine Tumors Group then presented the application of nanotechnology in the clinic, and the example of the innovative project NoCanTher, in pancreatic cancer.
Jesús Sánchez from the CRIS Foundation exposed the opportunities for calls for research against cancer. Joan Comenge, from the company Nanotargeting, has revealed how gold nanoparticles can help in the treatment of cancer, and the importance of technology transfer and development of new products, offering a different perspective on the subject. Miguel Segura, from the VHIR Childhood and Adolescence Tumors Laboratory, has presented a new nano-formulation for the implementation of RNA-based therapies, called Quatsomes.
Next, Alba Ruiz, from the Spanish Association Against Cancer (AECC), explained the association’s task, supporting innovative cancer research.
In the following session, Ibane Abasolo, from the Pharmacological targeting and delivery group, VHIR, presented how nanoparticles can be used to target stem cells to eradicate cancer ·
Finally, there was time for a question session, in which attendees were able to address the expert speakers directly to learn more about the nanomedicine systems that seek to contribute to health solutions against cancer.
Más información: gorts@ibecbarcelona.eu
