Solidarity and research to stop cancer
The Contigo Foundation against Women’s Cancer, supported by the prestigious oncologist Javier Cortes, held its third charity dinner in Barcelona on Tuesday, where they raised 149,630 euros to research the disease and ensure that it becomes a chronic disease from which no one will die. In addition, at the evening, a grant of €80,000 was awarded to a research project testing genetic variants involved in the behavior of breast and endometrial cancer.
Investigation
Validation of genetic variants involved in the clinical behavior of breast and endometrial cancer
Breast Cancer Night, which took place in Llotha de Mar in Barcelona, brought together 400 people with a common goal: to contribute to vital research. During the event, the II Contigo Esther Balletbó Scholarship was awarded, which provides €80,000 for a research project in clinical and/or translational oncology. The award in this edition went to the Variancáncer project, which is studying the validation of genetic variants involved in the clinical behavior of breast and endometrial cancer. The winners were Dr. José David Sarrio López and Prof. Gema Moreno Bueno.
“Research is an investment in our future.”
“Research is a fundamental driving force for improving what we do regarding cancer,” oncologist Javier Cortes, promoter of the Contigo Foundation, explains to La Vanguardia. Cortez is one of the most prestigious experts in the world and the world’s leading expert on HER2+ breast cancer, as well as the fourth-highest-ranking breast cancer expert in the world according to the international Expertscape ranking.
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The foundation’s project was born out of concern from Cortez’s patients who saw the importance and need for research into common female cancers, which are mainly breast and gynecological cancers. Their goal is to promote research and they currently have about twenty research projects underway, led by a top-notch scientific team. Charity dinners serve to raise donations for research, and meetings have been held in Barcelona, Madrid, Port d’Aro, Castellon, Vilanova del Valles, and soon in Marbella and Andorra.
“There are a lot of breast cancers, in the world more than 2,300,000 women have breast cancer and more than 650,000 die. So there is progress, but there is also a great need,” says the oncologist. Because while advances and research give reasons for optimism, Cortes remembers that 6,500 women die from breast cancer every year in Spain.
Atmosphere in Llotha de Mar last night
But money for research is always “not enough” in general and “scarce” when it comes to public investment, Cortes complains. Because, he explains, any clinical trial does not cost hundreds of thousands of euros. That’s why the oncologist is asking authorities to make efforts to investigate diseases in general, because “we will all have them.” It’s about “investing in our own future,” he notes. For the oncologist, it is the responsibility to ensure that the advances reach everyone and that they are larger and better in order to “chronize” the disease.