Inaugurated in June 2010, thanks to the support received from the ”la Caixa” Foundation, VHIO’s Research Unit in Molecular Therapy of Cancer (UITM) – CaixaResearch is dedicated to complex clinical trials with drugs in early development (phase I and early phase II trials), focusing on novel targets. Occupying a total surface area of 1000 m², our Unit is located within the General Area of the Vall d’Hebron University Hospital (HUVH), Vall d’Hebron Barcelona Hospital Campus.

This privileged environment with direct access to patients, coupled with VHIO’s translational approach to research and superb scientific framework, has enabled our Unit to establish itself as one of the few comprehensive facilities in Europe to rapidly transform latest discovery into benefits for patients. Our UITM – CaixaResearch incorporates a multidisciplinary team comprised of medical oncologists, clinical trial coordinators and data managers, nurses and nurse technicians, pharmacists, as well as administrative personnel.

By promoting tight connectivity between oncology care and research we establish novel treatment models for patients with highly selective drugs, and advance insights into tumor types and how to treat them in an individualized way – getting the right therapy to the right patient, at the right time. As the statistics show, we continue to do so for an increasing number of patients.

In 2023, our unit participated in 249 phase I clinical trials with active recruitment at some time in the year, 25 of which are Basket trials. Thanks to our multidisciplinary team we have continued to expand our portfolio of phase I and Basket trials, with 608 patients enrolled. This year, we opened 55 new studies, treated over 1,250 patients throughout the year and performed over 600 first visits.

To be able to sustain this growth and continue providing the best quality care to our patients we have increased our treatment room facilities in 2022. We have added 7 extra places to treat patients, so we currently have 17 treatment places, including two treatment beds for patients who are more fragile or studies that require an isolated area. We have also increased the space to process samples of patients and continued to increase the number of people working in the different teams.

Research carried out at our Unit by VHIO’s Early Clinical Drug Development Group, directed by Elena Garralda, centers on the development of new drugs based on the molecular profile of each tumor as well as the optimization of treatment regimens using combinations of new agents with those that already exist.

Reflective of VHIO’s purely translational model, our studies are also linked to several research lines led by other VHIO groups, thus connecting molecular biology and optimal tumor models with pharmacology and innovative clinical research. VHIO scientists collaborate in our trials to facilitate biomarker development, a deep understanding of the mechanism of action, as well as research into mechanisms of cancer drug resistance.

We also participate in VHIO’s Molecular Prescreening Program that performs molecular analyses of patients’ tumors to select the best possible treatment with the experimental therapeutics available. Thanks to Ana Vivancos’ Cancer Genomics Group and their development of existing applications including an n-Counter (Nanostring) platform, two digital PCR platforms (BEAMing Sysmex and ddPCR, BIO-RAD), and five NextGen Sequencers; MiSeq, NextSeq, HiSeq2500 and NovaSeq6000 from Illumina, and a MinION from Oxford Nanopore Technologies, we are equipped to perform faster and more precise mutational analyses of tumor suppressor genes as well as translocations and gene amplifications.

Excellent patient treatment and care as well as pioneering research is also made possible thanks to the collaboration of many other oncology professionals including our oncology nurses directed by Mª Ángeles Peñuelas and our team of clinical study nurses led by Study Nurse Supervisor Cristina Casal, pathologists from the Vall d’Hebron University Hospital’s Molecular Pathology Department, radiologists and interventional radiologists, our Clinical Trials Office directed by Marta Beltran, Database Managers, VHIO’s Clinical Research Oncology Pharmacy Unit headed by Anna Farriols, our Quality & Processes Unit directed by Gemma Sala, as well as many other healthcare specialists including dermatologists, cardiologists, and ophthalmologists.