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On 29 October, El Círcol de Badalona hosted the 2nd Colorectal Cancer Awareness Day, an event open to the public aimed at bringing scientific and clinical knowledge about the disease closer to the community. Organised by Amics de Can Ruti, the Germans Trias i Pujol Research Institute (IGTP), the Catalan Institute of Oncology (ICO) – Badalona and Germans Trias Hospital, the event focused on prevention and healthy lifestyle habits, particularly physical activity and nutrition. The event was chaired by Dr Núria Mulet Margalef, medical oncologist at ICO-Badalona, and Dr Eva Martínez Balibrea, Principal Investigator at ICO-Badalona and IGTP. Dr Mireia Obón Santacana, researcher and coordinator of the Bioinformatics and Susceptibility Unit (UBS) at PADO, also took part in a round-table discussion on the role of lifestyle habits in disease prevention, patient support and treatment.

Dr Víctor Moreno, head of PADO, presents the findings of his research within the TANGERINE project at the closing event of the third initiative of the TRANSCAN network, held in Bologna from 20 to 22 October. The symposium brings together national and regional organisations that fund cancer research across Europe, providing an opportunity to reflect on the achievements of TRANSCAN-3 and discuss future activities under its successor initiative, TRANSCAN-4, which is already underway.

The TANGERINE project is a European scientific initiative focused on using artificial intelligence (AI) to predict patients’ responses to cancer immunotherapy, survival outcomes, and treatment-related toxicity. It uses retrospective data from thousands of patients, together with prospective patient recruitment, to validate predictive algorithms.

The European Commission co-funds the network, while the research team’s participation has been jointly co-funded by the Scientific Foundation of the Spanish Association Against Cancer (FCAECC – TRNSC213877MORE) and the Carlos III Health Institute (ISCIII – AC22/00021).

Researcher Blanca Rius Sansalvador defended her doctoral thesis, Microbiome and Metabolomics Approaches for Colorectal Cancer Risk Assessment in Population-Based Screening, on 16 October at the University of Barcelona (UB). Co-supervised by Dr Víctor Moreno Aguado, Head of the Oncological Data Analytics Programme (PADO), and Dr Mireia Obón Santacana, Coordinator of the Biomarkers and Susceptibility Unit within PADO, the research explores how the study of the intestinal microbiome and metabolites present in the body may contribute to a more accurate assessment of colorectal cancer risk in population-based screening programmes.

The examination committee comprised Dr David Hughes, Principal Investigator and Leader of the Molecular Cancer Epidemiology Group at the Conway Institute, University College Dublin (UCD); Dr Núria Mulet, a medical oncologist specialised in colorectal cancer at ICO-Badalona; and Dr Robert Carreras, Senior Researcher at IDIBGI in Girona.

Mireia Obón, a researcher from PADO, along with other experts in oncology, research, nutrition, and physical activity, will share knowledge and experiences regarding colorectal cancer from a multidisciplinary perspective. The event, which will take place on October 29th, aims to bring science closer to the general public.

A study, led by researchers from PADO, has identified ACISOGA, a molecule found in the blood that could help more accurately identify people at higher risk of developing colorectal cancer. The research, published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, analyzed samples from more than 500 individuals with different levels of risk and found that ACISOGA levels increase as colorectal lesions progress. The findings were later confirmed in an independent European cohort of more than 1,100 participants. In addition, genetic analyses showed that people predisposed to having higher levels of ACISOGA are at greater risk of developing the disease. Although further research is needed before this biomarker can be incorporated into clinical practice, the discovery opens new opportunities to improve prevention, early detection, and the development of more personalized strategies against colorectal cancer.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42201318/