10/08/2026 - General information
The Hospital del Mar Research Institute researcher has received this distinction, which recognises the quality of the work he will present at the European Society for Medical Oncology Congress. The award includes financial support to attend the congress.
Dr Valentino Martelli, a medical oncologist with the Colorectal Cancer Precision Medicine Research Group, part of the Cancer Research Programme at the Hospital del Mar Research Institute, has been selected to receive an ESMO Merit Award to attend the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress, which will take place in Madrid from 23 to 27 October. These awards support young oncologists by helping them attend activities organised by ESMO.
The scientific committee selects the recipients based on the quality of the work submitted to the congress. This competitive recognition aims to support researchers in the early stages of their scientific careers and acknowledges the potential of their work.
Joana Vidal and Valentino Martelli
Liquid biopsy to personalise treatment for colon and rectal cancer
The study that Dr Martelli will present at the ESMO Congress in Madrid analyses the role of liquid biopsy in personalising treatment for patients with metastatic colorectal cancer. It is a multinational study led by Dr Clara Montagut from the Medical Oncology Department at Hospital del Mar.
The study analyses circulating tumour DNA samples from almost 400 patients enrolled in four international clinical trials. Its findings show that a panel of genetic alterations detectable using this technique can identify, before treatment begins, which patients are most likely to benefit from targeted therapy with anti-EGFR antibodies.
The ultimate goal is to select the most appropriate treatment for each individual, thereby avoiding ineffective therapies and potentially unwanted side effects. The work has also been selected for an oral presentation at the congress of the Italian Association of Medical Oncology (AIOM), which will be held next November.
This is the second ESMO Merit Award received by Dr Martelli this year, following the award he obtained at the ESMO Gastrointestinal Cancers Congress, held in Munich, Germany, in early July.
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