Presided by Crown Princess Letizia of Spain, Honorary President of the Spanish Association Against Cancer (AECC), a special Congress entitled “Turned 60 thanks to you”, took place today at the Municipal Conference Centre in Madrid to celebrate 60 years of AECC´s committed support aimed at promoting cancer prevention, improving early diagnosis, and advancing cancer research, treatment and care.
To both celebrate and draw on just some of the many beneficial outcomes of AECC-funded projects, a representative panel of experts within the oncology field, including VHIO´s Joaquín Arribas, Director of Preclinical Research, highlighted several key elements which empower the AECC to do what it does best: fight against cancer by calling for ´Big Spanish Society´ action to reduce the impact of cancer and improve the lives of those touched by it.
Essential conversations during the Congress surrounded the importance of mobilizing communities to fight back against cancer by supporting cancer research of the highest caliber, the impact of translational research of excellence on improved survival, treatment and care of not only patients today but those of tomorrow, the role of cancer research and science as a benchmark of a country´s progress, and the importance of each and every donation to secure tomorrow´s research aimed at getting the right treatment at the right dose, at that the right time to a rapidly increasing number of patients.
In this respect, it is thanks to such generous backing and a strong belief in VHIO´s purely translational research model, that we currently have two AECC-supported projects underway. Joaquín Arribas is leading studies to identify mechanisms of resistance to current anti-HER2 therapies in order to develop novel therapies to counteract such resistance. Joan Seoane, Director of Translational Research at VHIO, is heading research to decipher molecular mechanisms in gliomagenesis and potentiate research into cancer stem cells in order to identify new therapeutic targets and novel biomarkers for tailored patient stratification and better response to treatment.
“On behalf of VHIO, I would like to gratefully thank the AECC for its tireless work and committed efforts aimed at supporting such critical research which will undoubtedly contribute to advancing personalized and targeted therapies against cancer. Further, during such challenging economic times, this 60th Anniversary meeting also celebrated and awarded a total of 4.100.000 EUR in AECC funding for 2013 which will support seven new research projects and the ongoing work of eleven researchers”, said Josep Tabernero, Director of VHIO.
For more information surrounding the AECC and its activities visit: www.aecc.es
