In 2022, the San Juan de Dios Hospital (SJD) inaugurated the Pediatric Cancer Center of Barcelona (PCCB), an international center with the capacity to treat more than 400 new cases of childhood cancer per year. That same year, a pathway was created for families from Peru, most of them highly vulnerable and desperate due to their children's dramatic situation, who came to Catalonia to receive treatment in the hospital's oncology department. Now, the Catalan Health Department intends to put an end to this: they have detected regular flows of patients to the SJD, a privately owned public center, as well as the arrival of patients of other nationalities to Vall d'Hebron and Sant Pau Hospital, and they want to regulate it. When the PCCB was launched four years ago by the Peruvian medical director, Andrés Morales, the aim was to internationalize the center and attract patients from other countries in order to fill all the beds and make it profitable. Currently, 65% of the beds are occupied. According to data from the Catalan Health Department (Salut), foreign patients represented almost half of all minors treated at Sant Joan de Déu Hospital in 2025. Specifically, of the 252 children hospitalized, 123 were born outside of Spain. However, the majority of patients who have arrived since 2022 for cancer treatment are part of the public healthcare system; that is, they do not pay for treatment, as they would in a private hospital, and access services with a health card. In fact, the hospital treats almost two-thirds of all foreign pediatric patients in the Catalan healthcare system.

Stimulating the immune system to distinguish tumor cells from healthy cells and selectively attack them has revolutionized the way some cancers are treated. This revolution began with personalized medicines called CAR-T(from the English Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-cells), a therapy in which the patient is their own donor. In this strategy, the patient's T lymphocytes (which are natural defenses) are extracted, genetically reprogrammed in the laboratory to kill cancer cells, and then reintroduced into the bloodstream so that they can attack the tumor. Now, scientists at the University of California are proposing a reprogramming method that avoids having to manufacture the cells outside the human body and has allowed for the successful treatment of aggressive leukemia, multiple myeloma, and even a solid tumor, so far in mice transplanted with human cells.

Although the fight against cancer has undergone a major revolution in recent decades, with a notable improvement in patient survival rates and quality of life, there are still tumors with a very poor prognosis for which virtually no treatment is available. This is the case with an ultra-rare tumor called giant cell tumor of the tendon sheath, which has an incidence of less than one case per million inhabitants and primarily affects young people between 20 and 40 years old. Until now, the only way to treat this tumor was with surgery, but an international study has supported the use of a promising drug that significantly reduces the tumor. Currently, the drug, called Pimicotinib, has already been approved in China and is being evaluated in Europe and the United States.

Finding therapies to control the progression of cancer is a race against time. Stimulating the immune system to distinguish tumor cells from healthy cells and selectively attack them has been a game-changer. In leukemias, the disease disappears and there are no signs of recurrence after a few years. This revolution would not be understood without the CAR-T (from the English Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-cells), a type of personalized drug. However, in 85% of diseases, cell therapy is not adept at recognizing and attacking tumor cells. So, is it possible to design a similar, but more sensitive, treatment that targets less visible cancers?

"I've had breast cancer for four months and I'm undergoing hormone therapy and radiation." Daniela Rodríguez had never touched a basketball, but on Monday she participated in a training session supervised by the Catalan Institute of Oncology (ICO). "I didn't even know the rules or where to shoot from, but I had a great time. I felt like a little girl who's been given a treat. My partner loves it and often stays up late to watch NBA games, but I'd never played before," she admits. "Sharing experiences with people who are going through the same thing is a good idea. Hormone treatments for cancer cause a lot of pain, and playing sports is a good way to combat it. It's also helpful for insomnia and improves mood. Mood swings are common." The Exorcist"We cry one minute and laugh the next. In five minutes we go through all the moods, and doing things that help us feel better is very useful," confesses Rodríguez.

Although the great advances of the last few decades in the fight against cancerThe most effective tool to combat the disease is not the result of any scientific discovery nor does it depend on cutting-edge technology. For example, quitting smoking, reducing alcohol consumption, or exercising has a significant impact on our health, to the point that almost four out of ten cancer cases could be prevented by avoiding these risk factors. This is the conclusion of a global investigation led by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the WHO's International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), which determined that 7.1 million preventable cancer cases were diagnosed worldwide in 2022.

The effect of immunochemotherapy—the treatment that combines chemotherapy and immunotherapy—in patients with advanced lung cancer changes depending on whether it is administered in the morning or afternoon. In fact, it is usually more effective in the first part of the day. This is one of the main conclusions of a pioneering study published in the journal Nature Medicine, The study, which included up to 210 patients with advanced lung cancer, demonstrated that receiving treatment before 3 p.m. slows disease progression more effectively than administering it in the afternoon. Researchers emphasize that this simple adjustment to the infusion schedule represents an effective and cost-free strategy that could be immediately implemented in clinical practice to improve cancer outcomes. The answer to this treatment advance lies in circadian rhythms, which regulate the function and distribution of immune cells. Immunotherapy aims to activate or restore the body's natural immune response so that the body itself can fight tumor cells. It works by using drugs that boost CD8+ T lymphocytes—white blood cells that play a fundamental role in the body's defense against cancer—and enable them to directly identify and destroy malignant cells. When immunotherapy is administered in the morning, the number of active CD8+ T cells increases, and their depletion is reduced. However, according to the study, if the treatment is administered in the afternoon, these cells are more depleted. During the trial, which lasted approximately two years, patients were divided into two groups: the first received immunotherapy before 3 p.m., and the second, in the afternoon. Those who received treatment in the morning did not experience cancer progression for 11.3 months. In contrast, in the group treated in the afternoon, the period without progression was 5.7 months. That is, their resistance to lung cancer practically doubled. The median overall survival—an indicator that measures the total time patients live from the start of treatment until death—was 28 months in the initial group and 16.8 months in the second group. Therefore, the conclusion of the trial is that survival time also increases significantly if immunotherapies are administered in the morning. Pioneering study

Until now, several retrospective cancer studies have suggested that administering treatment first thing in the morning might be more effective. However, no controlled clinical trial had validated this. The study was led by researchers at Hunan Cancer Hospital in China, co-directed by Nong Yang and Yongchang Zhang. It is an international collaboration with the University of Geneva, Paris-Saclay University, and the Chinese University of Hong Kong. The authors note that further research is needed to link these results to long-term survival. A key limitation of the study is that the patient population was exclusively from China. However, it represents a step forward in cancer research, particularly by integrating the biological clock (i.e., circadian rhythms) as a key factor in modern oncology. This discovery could also radically transform the logistics of day units in hospitals worldwide.

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Receiving a cancer diagnosis is still a devastating blow for patients, but the fact is that the prognosis for this disease has changed radically in recent decades. Although there is still a long way to go before achieving a complete cure, the emergence of new treatments such as immunotherapies Thanks to new diagnostic tools that allow the disease to be detected in its very early stages, survival rates have improved substantially, almost doubling in the last 40 years. This is confirmed by the Spanish Society of Medical Oncology (SEOM) in its report. Cancer figures in Spain 2026, It is estimated that this year, for the first time, more than 300,000 diagnoses will be made, of which 8,000 will be young adults between 20 and 39 years old. This represents a 2% increase compared to the previous year, which experts attribute to the growing and aging population. Even so, the president of the SEOM (Spanish Society of Medical Oncology), Javier de Castro, believes it is likely that patient survival rates will continue to rise slowly in the coming years with the application of new treatments and new screening tools for the early detection of diseases such as colon cancer. Therefore, he maintains that the public should not be alarmed, but rather encouraged to adopt healthy lifestyle habits, such as eating well and exercising, as both reduce the risk of developing cancer.

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A new door has opened to treatments for one of the deadliest cancers: pancreatic cancer. Researchers at the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO) have, for the first time, completely eliminated pancreatic tumors in experimental mouse models using a triple therapeutic combination. The study focused on pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, the most common type of tumor. The researchers devised a strategy that targets three key aspects of this cancer: the mutation that initiates the tumor (called KRAS) and the two proteins involved that promote the proliferation, survival, and growth of this cancer (called EGFR and STAT3). After six years of work, the curative efficacy of this triple therapy has been demonstrated. The results have been published in the scientific journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

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Human error has led to the deaths of two cancer patients at Burgos Hospital. The mistake occurred during the preparation of a treatment that was also administered to three other patients, one of whom is hospitalized in the intensive care unit (ICU), as confirmed by the hospital's manager, Carlos Cartón, at a press conference on Tuesday. "It wasn't done as it should have been," the manager lamented. Both the Castile and León Health Department and the hospital have taken responsibility for the error and have not identified any staff member as responsible. The incident took place during the Christmas holidays. Specifically, the error occurred during the preparation of the treatment administered to these patients, who received a dose six times higher than necessary. Cartón explained that a numerical error was detected in the drug preparation record in the hospital pharmacy, affecting five patients. This is a guide that indicates how to prepare the medication and it has already been corrected, so they assure that there is no risk of it happening again to other people receiving treatment at this hospital.

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Unfortunately, cancer is a disease that affects most of the population very closely, as it is a group of conditions with a high incidence. This year, La Marató, celebrating its 34th edition, wanted to give a new boost to cancer research and, for the sixth time, joined forces to raise funds to strengthen research that could ultimately be essential to saving patients and improving their quality of life. The final tally of the night was revealed after 2:00 a.m., at the end of the gala presented by Ramon Pellicer. The amount raised up to that point was €9,741,627.

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In a message that was nothing short of exceptional, King Charles III revealed this Friday evening a "reduction for next year" in his treatment against the cancer he has"A milestone that is both a personal blessing and a testament to the remarkable progress that has been made in cancer care in recent years," he said during a recorded address broadcast shortly after 8 p.m. on Channel 4. His words opened the special broadcast. Starting in January, the King of England will enter what the Royal Household has described as a "precautionary" phase, having "responded exceptionally well" to the therapy. The duration of this new phase will depend solely on medical judgment. In his speech, the monarch directly appealed to citizens to do their part in the fight against cancer and encouraged them to participate in public health screening programs: "Early detection is key and can transform treatment processes, giving medical teams time to respond." Charles III confessed that he knows "from personal experience" the devastating impact of a diagnosis, but also the importance of identifying the disease early. He explained that this has allowed him "to continue leading a full and active life, even while undergoing treatment." At no point, however, has he revealed the type of cancer he has had since February 2014, but sources at Buckingham Palace have confirmed that it is not prostate cancer, even though surgery at the end of January of that year detected a benign enlargement of the prostate. A few weeks after Charles III moved the British public with his diagnosis, Kate Middleton, the wife of Prince William and future queen, announced that he also had cancerAnd almost exactly a year ago, in January 2025, the Princess commented, as the King did today, that her illness was in remission.

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Ona Lloveras was born with Shwachman syndrome, a rare inherited disorder that causes the pancreas and bone marrow to malfunction. She was diagnosed at the Parc Taulí Hospital in Sabadell at the age of two. Until she was six, Ona was frequently hospitalized for neutropenia, anemia, bronchitis, and various infections. At age 12, her bone marrow began to fail, leading to severe myelodysplasia, a type of pre-leukemia. In April 2013, the family was informed that the only solution was a bone marrow transplant, as chemotherapy would not resolve the problem in her case. No compatible donor was found, and so, on May 27, 2013, they opted for an umbilical cord blood transplant. Afterward, Ona—who was 13 at the time—spent many months hospitalized and isolated at Vall d'Hebron Hospital, first due to the transplant itself and then because of intestinal and skin rejection and the numerous infections she faced. "After a lot of things I don't want to remember anymore, I was able to go home," she explains now. However, she clarifies: "Home care didn't prevent a lot of trips back and forth to the hospital and having to take a lot of medication."

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Nadal is coming, and that means La Marató's album is finally here! From TV3. The Ludwig Band, El Pot Petit, Els Catarres, and Manolo García are some of the artists featured on this charity album, which will be available this Sunday with major newspapers, including ARA, for €12. Everyone who buys this edition will receive a link to download the album to other devices. The digital version will be available through Apple Music, and a special USB version is also available, sold exclusively at the 3Cat store. This year's Marathon will take place on December 14th and will be hosted by... Ramon Pellicer, presenter ofNewscast weekend from TV3 until September of that year.

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The arrival of immunotherapy in hospitals, the birth of gene editing and walking devices, the first drugs against Alzheimer's and injections for weight loss... It's difficult to look back and choose just a few milestones that demonstrate how, in the last fifteen years, medicine has funneled through countless advancements. Since 2010, tens of millions of medical articles have been published in high-impact journals, and as you read these lines, scientists and laboratories are not slowing down. Since its first issues, the ARA has reported on and delved into many of these achievements, and has not been oblivious to the ethical and economic challenges that health research has faced. Nor has it been unaware of the profound crisis of confidence that some disciplines have experienced in the last five years.

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Most tumors are caused by an accumulation of genetic mutations. Knowing which cells these mutations originate in makes it easier to find treatments that target the cancer more surgically and avoid the extreme side effects of chemotherapy or radiotherapy. However, this is different with pediatric tumors, as the vast majority have very few underlying genetic alterations. This is the case with Ewing sarcoma, a rare type of cancer that occurs in the bones or the soft tissue surrounding the bones. It is cured in 60% of cases, but the toxicity of the treatment causes side effects in the children who receive it.Now, researchers from Hospital del Mar and the San Juan de Dios Research Institute have discovered that this aggressive tumor depends on a single genetic alteration originating in one cell, which they have also identified. "Until now, we thought that the oncogen—the gene that mutates and can produce cancer—needed more genetic alterations to produce the tumor, but now we have seen that this is not the case," explains Dr. Inmaculada Hernández-Muñoz, a researcher in the dermatological inflammatory and neoplastic diseases research group. Hernández-Muñoz details that they have managed to demonstrate that there is only one cell capable of tolerating this dysfunctional protein—the rest die or stop growing—and that a single oncogen is sufficient for the tumor to develop. The discovery, published in the journal Nature Communications, This opens the door to finding less aggressive therapies for Ewing sarcoma, especially considering that it is a tumor that affects children and that its side effects can affect them for life.

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The Interterritorial Council of the National Health System, comprised of the Ministry of Health and the regional health departments, approved on Wednesday the expansion of colorectal cancer screening to include those up to 74 years of age. This early detection program for these tumors was previously aimed at the 50-69 age group. However, the Catalan Minister of Health, Olga Pané, announced on Friday that the rollout of this new plan will be gradual and contingent upon the availability of specialized professionals to perform the tests. The minister did not specify a possible timeline for the expansion. "It's not a budgetary issue, but rather ensuring there are enough professionals to perform endoscopies, to carry out the necessary colonoscopies, so that there are no delays and so that other important aspects, such as acute problems or already diagnosed cancers, are not overlooked," Minister Pané stated to the media.

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The Community of Madrid will finally send its cancer screening data to the Ministry of Health after weeks of back-and-forth between Isabel Díaz Ayuso and the Spanish government. This afternoon, the Ministry of Health and all the autonomous communities agreed to share data on breast, colon, and cervical cancer screenings based on three indicators: the number of invitations to participate in the screening programs, the response rate to these invitations, and the number of positive cases detected during these screenings. The ministry, headed by Mónica García, requested the data from all the communities after... The breast cancer diagnosis scandal in Andalusiawhich affected at least 2,000 women.

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The first edition of La Marató de TV3 was held at Christmas 1992, dedicated to leukemia research and raising €1,230,128. This December 14th will mark the 34th edition, focused on raising awareness and promoting cancer research, one of the leading causes of death in Catalonia and worldwide. This year, the televised gala will be hosted by Ramon Pellicer, presenter of... Newscast The campaign aired on TV3 weekends until September of that year. The presentation took place at the Bellesguard Tower and was attended by various prominent figures and individuals who will make the program possible, such as Lluís Bernabé, director of La Marató, who explained that this initiative exists "because every half hour someone dies of cancer." He also expressed his gratitude to all the organizations, entities, media outlets, and individuals who contribute to this edition.

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Breast cancer is one of the cancers with the best prognosis, but not all diagnosed cases behave the same way, and some tumors do not respond well to treatment. For example, one in five patients worldwide has the HER2-positive (HER2+) type, which, when it metastasizes, is highly aggressive and has a high capacity for proliferation. New targeted therapies have radically improved survival, but there are still patients who end up developing metastases despite receiving treatment or who are diagnosed at advanced stages, when the prognosis is worse. Now, a team led by the breast cancer group at the Vall d'Hebron Institute of Oncology (VHIO) has demonstrated in a study that there is a more effective strategy than the current one for these patients. The drug is on the verge of receiving approval from the national health system. Researchers at VHIO, led by Cristina Saura, head of the breast cancer unit at Vall d'Hebron Hospital and of the VHIO breast cancer group, have improved the prognosis for patients with a therapeutic combination using two cancer drugs. These are two antibodies administered together to patients with HER2+ metastatic breast cancer who have not yet received other treatments or chemotherapy. According to the studies, this drug duo reduces the risk of disease progression or death by 44% compared to the standard treatment currently offered in the public healthcare system. According to the conclusions of the study published this Tuesday in the journal The New England Journal of Medicine, On average, patients treated with the experimental combination went 40 months without disease progression compared to 26.9 months for patients who received standard treatment.

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