The sports association “Els Veterans de Vilablareix” is a non-profit organisation that organises a wide range of sporting and leisure events in Vilablareix (Girona).
Each year, the association holds the “Quina de Nadal”, a traditional, popular and charitable activity during Christmas. Quina raises funds for a charitable cause chosen each time.
This year, following the recent loss of the association’s president, Enric Pilsa, its members decided to allocate all funds raised to brain tumour research carried out at the Vall d’Hebron Institute of Oncology (VHIO).
For this reason, last March they visited VHIO’s facilities to present a cheque for 6.200€.
Dr Cristina Suárez, Head of the Genitourinary (non-prostate), Central Nervous System (CNS), Sarcoma and Cancer of Unknown Primary Group at VHIO, together with Dr María Vieito and Dr Diego Gómez, medical oncologists and members of the same group, received the cheque and accompanied the attendees.
Dr Vieito, Pilsa’s oncologist, expressed her gratitude for the donation: “This contribution is very significant and necessary to continue advancing research into these types of tumours, particularly the tumour microenvironment.”
THE STUDY OF THE TUMOUR MICROENVIRONMENT
The donation will help us further advance research into brain tumours and will support a project led by Dr Diego Gómez. This project is focused on the study of the tumour microenvironment and the identification of predictive biomarkers.
Specifically, this project aims to identify biomarkers capable of predicting treatment response in patients with IDH-mutant gliomas and glioblastomas. Gliomas are tumours that originate from glial cells. They account for approximately 30% of all brain tumours and nearly 80% of malignant tumours in the central nervous system.
This project aims to improve treatment personalisation for patients with aggressive brain tumours and to study the tumour microenvironment, that is, the environment surrounding cancer cells (including immune cells, blood vessels and other tissue structures). This environment plays a key role in how tumours grow and respond to treatment.
Dr Gómez adds: “This study will help us better understand why some tumours respond to treatment while others do not, with the aim of developing personalised medicine strategies tailored to each patient and contributing to the identification of new therapeutic targets.”
Many thanks to the sports association “Els Veterans de Vilablareix” for your support and generosity.
