22/04/2026 - Press release
The project, led by INCLIVA, the Hospital del Mar Research Institute and the Vall d'Hebron Institute of Oncology, has developed models based on artificial intelligence and the use of liquid biopsy to molecularly characterize patients with a more aggressive phenotype. It has also been discovered that the tumor microenvironment influences resistance to chemotherapy, opening new avenues for treatments targeting both tumor cells and their surrounding environment. Among its most outstanding results, the project has enabled the development of a relapse prediction system for patients in different scenarios using artificial intelligence and deep learning, which uses models called artificial neural networks inspired by the functioning of the human brain, together with the analysis of visual images of biological tissues observed under the microscope. This helps identify high-risk patients
17/04/2026 - Press release
After more than a decade of research, a new-generation CAR-T therapy developed by VHIO, in collaboration with the Hospital del Mar Research Institute, has been administered to patients for the first time in a phase 1 clinical trial. This breakthrough has been made possible thanks to continued funding from the Spanish Association Against Cancer (Asociación Española Contra el Cáncer), with the support of Ausonia, and from the Breast Cancer Research Foundation to the laboratory of Dr Joaquín Arribas at VHIO. This CAR-T combines recognition of the p95HER2 protein, which is specific to one third of HER2+ tumours, with the secretion of a bispecific antibody to activate the immune system and enhance the anti-tumour response in HER2+ solid tumours. The academic phase 1 clinical trial CATHERINE will test this therapy for the first time in patients with solid tumours overexpressing HER2 who have exhausted all therapeutic options and are candidates to receive a cell therapy. The aim is to assess safety and preliminary efficacy. The study, to be carried out at VHIO and Hospital del Mar, is funded by the Spanish Association Against Cancer, with the support of Ausonia and the Carlos III Health Institute.
10/03/2026 - Press release
The absence of a protein, the kinase IKKα, enables tumor cells to cluster and survive during dissemination. The findings, published in Nature Communications, open the door to new prognostic markers and potential therapeutic strategies. Targeting tumor cell adhesion impairs their ability to migrate and form metastases. The study was conducted using a preclinical mouse model
Més informació "Researchers identify a key mechanism that promotes colorectal cancer metastasis"
03/03/2026 - Press release
They are part of the sixty research grants awarded by the organization, with total funding of more than thirteen million euros. The Spanish Association Against Cancer has awarded three of its research grants to projects led by researchers from the Hospital del Mar Research Institute (HMRIB). In total, sixty grants have been awarded: 54 to research projects and six accreditations to research centers. Altogether, this represents an investment in research of more than thirteen million euros.
17/02/2026 - General information
The Spanish Association for Metastatic Breast Cancer (AECMM) has decided to grant one of the awards in the seventh edition of the M. Chiara Giorgetti Award for research into metastatic breast cancer to a project led by Dr. Toni Celià-Terrassa, a researcher in the Cancer Stem Cells and Metastasis Dynamics Research Group at the Hospital del Mar Research Institute. The project has received the second prize, endowed with €80,000. The award ceremony will take place next June. The project will build on the findings of a recent study by the same research group, published in the journal Cancer Cell. It will analyze the role of the protein TIM-3 in the development of resistance to neoadjuvant chemotherapy and how residual disease may serve as a predictor of metastasis. The expected results are intended to pave the way for the launch of a clinical trial led by the Medical Oncology Department at Hospital del Mar.
16/01/2026 - Press release
Researchers from the Hospital del Mar Research Institute and the Vall d'Hebron Institute of Oncology have demonstrated, in animal models, the role played by these cells in the development of cancer cells. The study, published in Science Advances, shows that eliminating these cells at an early stage of tumor growth promotes tumor proliferation and the formation of metastases. By contrast, combining their elimination with an inhibitor of the CCL2 molecule reduces tumor size and eliminates metastases.
04/12/2025 - Press release
A study from the Hospital del Mar Research Institute, published in The Journal of Clinical Investigation, indicates that the high expression of the estrogen receptor is the main factor preventing the most common type of breast cancer, luminal breast cancer, from responding to immunotherapy. The high presence of the estrogen receptor sequesters the LCOR molecule, whose action on tumor cells is necessary to make tumors visible to the immune system. In experimental models, the researchers found that combining immunotherapy with endocrine therapy allows LCOR to function and the immune system to attack the tumor. At the same time, they have generated a modified version of the LCOR molecule that sensitizes tumors to immunotherapy, including those with hormone receptors. The next goal is to study this molecule combined with immunotherapy in clinical trials.
21/11/2025 - Institutional news
A project aimed at advancing knowledge of the tumour microenvironment in colon and rectal cancer in order to identify new therapeutic strategies, led by Dr Alexandre Calon, coordinator of the Translational Research Group in Tumour Microenvironment at the Hospital del Mar Research Institute, is one of those selected in the latest Health Research Call of the "la Caixa" Foundation. The proposal will receive nearly one million euros to seek solutions to the challenge of treatment resistance in this type of tumour.
20/11/2025 - Press release
This discovery, carried out by a multidisciplinary team led by researchers from the Hospital del Mar Research Institute and the Sant Joan de Déu Research Institute, opens the door to understanding the mechanisms that trigger tumour proliferation and to exploring potential therapeutic targets. Researchers suspect that the genetic alteration that activates the mechanisms behind this type of cancer occurs during embryonic development. Ewing sarcoma is a highly aggressive tumour that can affect bones and soft tissues, and is the most frequent bone tumour in childhood.
Més informació "Researchers identify the cell of origin of Ewing Sarcoma"
19/11/2025 - Events
Dr. María Martínez, Head of the Neuro-oncology Section at Hospital del Mar and researcher at the Hospital del Mar Research Institute, has been elected as a new member of the Board of Directors of the Spanish Society of Medical Oncology (SEOM), following the vote held during the SEOM2025 congress. The vote served to partially renew the organisation's governing body, with the candidacy led by Dr. Antonio González, from the Clínica Universidad de Navarra, elected as the new vice-president of the Board.
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