A research project in which the ibs.GRANADA participates receives 500.000 euros from the Spanish Association against Cancer
The Scientific Foundation of the Spanish Association Against Cancer (AECC) has awarded a grant of 500.000 euros to the project "Genetic and metabolomics screening towards the precision medicine in cancer prevention", whose objective is to identify the relationship between genetic factors of different types of cancer (colon and rectum, gastric, breast, prostate, and chronic lymphatic leukemia), metabolomics and lifestyles.
In this consortium, led by the researcher Víctor Moreno (IDIBELL, Institut Català d'Oncologia, Universitat de Barcelona and CIBERESP), 15 translational coordinated groups participate. Among them is the Granada node, made up of a multidisciplinary team of personnel from the University of Granada and the San Cecilio University Hospital in Granada, headed by the researcher, María del Rocío Olmedo Requena.
Most of the staff of this node in Granada is assigned to the D-07 Research Group of Preventive Medicine and Public Health of the Biosanitary Research Institute of Granada: María del Rocío Olmedo Requena, Rocío Barrios Rodríguez, Macarena Lozano Lorca, Inmaculada Salcedo Bellido and José Juan Jiménez Moleón.
In addition, Benito Mirón Pozo and Antonio Jiménez Pacheco, clinicians from the Management Units of General Surgery and the Digestive System and Urology respectively, both belonging to the San Cecilio University Hospital in Granada, participate.
The aim of the AECC-funded project is to assess the association of a large number of known and unknown factors with cancer and, more importantly, to use them in combination to estimate the risk of developing cancer and improve prevention.
The project is made up of a consolidated consortium of research institutes from 12 Spanish provinces, coordinated by the CIBER of Epidemiology and Public Health (ISCIII).
In the words of Víctor Moreno: “we have carried out a large epidemiological study in Spain, MCC-Spain, with a multi-case-control design, between September 2008 and December 2013 (mccspain.org) that has recruited 6008 people with common cancers (colorectal, breast, stomach, prostate and chronic lymphocytic leukemia) and 4098 population controls”.
In addition to the epidemiological and dietary data, the researchers have obtained biological samples that will be analyzed to determine the genetics and metabolomics of the individuals. "Our ultimate goal is to identify biomarkers that can be used to identify people at highest risk of developing one of the five cancers studied, not only to reduce the morbidity and societal impact of cancers, but also health care costs," the researchers say.
The project coordinator participated in the award ceremony of the AECC Scientific Foundation recently held in Madrid (on World Cancer Research Day) chaired by Her Majesty the Queen, as Honorary President of the AECC and the Foundation AECC scientist.