Project name PAEDIATRIC ONCOLOGY UNIT LA PAZ HOSPITAL
Principal Researcher: Dr Antonio Pérez Martínez
Centres: La Paz University Hospital and La Paz Hospital Research Institute (idiPAZ)
Timeline: 2017-2020
Funding: 1,200,000 €
Target for 2017: 500,000 €
Background
Cancer is the main cause of childhood death in our country. 1,400 children are diagnosed with cancer every year in Spain, of which 20% die. This figure has been constant in the past decades.
In spite of the dramatic situation, children’s cancer treatments are in the same place they were 30 years ago, as children’s cancer is very different from cancer in adults:
– It cannot be prevented, and exposition factors that are relevant in adults (such as tobacco, alcohol, diet, exercise, etc.) have no role in children’s cancer. Furthermore, early diagnosis is difficult, because there are currently no techniques allowing an early diagnosis.
– Children’s tumours are generally sarcomas (affecting cells that cement or structure tissues and organs) and are usually of a high degree and very proliferative. On the contrary, carcinomas (affecting cells that act as “bricks” in tissues and organs) are more frequent in adults; they usually have slower growth and a lower degree.
– In adults, tumours are usually related to alterations derived from the Ageing process. On the contrary, children’s cancer is related to the completely opposite process, Growth.
– Cancer treatments in children are usually conventional treatments (chemotherapy, surgery and radiotherapy), and the application of new approximations such as immunotherapy or personalised medicine is scarce. Improving support treatments (transfusions, antibiotics, nutrition) together with conventional treatments has allowed a survival rate close to 80%.
The reason why survival rates in children’s cancer have not improved in the past few years is that we do not know the mechanisms that cause the formation of tumours in children, or the reasons why their immune system is incapable of fighting against them.
It is, therefore, indispensable to develop clinical research to understand how cancer occurs, how to fight against it and how to implement new therapies. This requires clinical trials to determine the most suitable framework to ensure patients’ safety and that of health professionals. There are few clinical trials in our country helping to advance therapies against children’s cancer.
Project Description:
This unit, coordinated by Antonio Pérez Martínez, intends to be at the forefront in the treatment of children’s cancer, by creating a multidisciplinary and integrated team combining state-of-the-art research, clinical trials and the most advanced therapies. Physicians, investigators, nursing professionals, geneticists and immunologists will collaborate and come together to treat the most difficult children’s cancer cases in a more personalised manner.
The goal is to improve current therapies in children’s cancer. This Unit will allow on-site investigation, the development of innovative therapies by means of clinical trials and a more personalised and unique clinical practice for each patient.
Achievements in the past year (different from previous year’s results): At the present time, the Advanced Therapies Unit is about to be opened on the 8th floor of La Paz Maternity and Children’s Hospital. It will comprise 10 rooms, 4 of them being the first state-of-the-art isolation rooms for children requiring haematopoietic progenitor transplants. Furthermore, it will include space to perform clinical trials and an area for treatment preparation. The hospital’s facilities will include a specialised laboratory and a working area for investigators, clinicians and monitors of clinical trials. The plant is expected to open in September 2017.
The cost of the project is 1,200,000 Euro, during a 3-year period.
Elements to be financed:
※ Hospitalisation area for Clinical Trials
※ State-of-the-art Isolation area for Transplants.
※ Work area for investigators, physicians and monitors of clinical trials.
※ Treatment Preparation area.
※ Laboratory materials.
※ Specialised Staff for the Unit:
– Onco-haematologist paediatrician
– Immunologist
– Bioinformatics specialists
– Cell-therapy lab technician
– Project manager and data manager
– Medical writer
– Pre-and Post-doc investigators
