Research Paediatric Cancer

Paediatric Cancer Treatment

Research Program

Paediatric Cancer

Leaders

Where we are

SJD Barcelona Children's Hospital

How to reach us

Related websites

Paediatric cancer affects over 1000 children in Spain each year, 80% of whom survive more than 5 years after treatment. There are, however, still some paediatric cancers that are incurable.

Our work focuses on experimentally addressing this urgent clinical need in patients with the worst prognosis. We carry out laboratory (preclinical) projects based on small tumour samples (biopsies) from these patients which we use to create laboratory models that are then used in experimental studies for new treatments. These new treatments are developed by our research group and/or our collaborators.

Thanks to these preclinical research projects, we are currently conducting phase 1 clinical trials in the paediatric population with retinal and brain cancer.

Our research on retinoblastoma (retinal cancer) virotherapy is well known and is already being applied in children with promising results. We were extremely excited to receive the Schweisguth Prize from SIOP (Société Internationale d'Oncologie Pédiatrique) and the Vanguàrdia Science Award for this work.

Our scientific output is diverse. The results of our studies have been published in various prestigious journals in the fields of translational medicine, pharmaceutical sciences and bioengineering (e.g., Science Translational Medicine, Biomaterials, Journal of Controlled Release, Advanced Healthcare Materials) and we have participated in publications in the most prestigious scientific sources (Science, Nature, Nature Medicine, Nature Genetics, Cancer Cell, JEM, Nature Communications, Cancer Research, Clinical Cancer Research).

The main objectives of our research programme are:

1. To establish a platform for preclinical paediatric solid tumour models.

2. To conduct preclinical translational research on the efficacy of new therapeutic candidates.

3. To develop new drug delivery systems tailored to our patients.

4. To characterise how medicines are distributed in the body in order to fully understand their therapeutic effect

Research lines

  1. Diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG) and cerebral gliomatosis: pharmacological therapy and immunotherapy.
  2. Retinoblastoma: advanced therapy with oncolytic adenoviruses.
  3. Extracranial solid tumours: selective therapies with new drug delivery systems.
  4. Solid tumours with poor prognosis in relapse: precision therapies.
  5. Blood-brain barrier: possible pharmacological strategies to cross it.

Scientific objectives

  1. To develop pharmacological treatments for DIPG, cerebral gliomatosis and other paediatric brain tumours with poor prognosis.
  2. To develop drug delivery systems in paediatric oncology, with a better profile of tumour selectivity, greater efficacy and lower toxicity.
  3. To develop innovative pharmacological treatments for extracranial solid paediatric tumours such as Ewing's sarcoma, rhabdomyosarcoma, osteosarcoma and neuroblastoma.
  4. To develop treatments for retinoblastoma based on the combination of oncolytic adenoviruses and chemotherapy.
  5. To develop immunotherapy treatments for DIPG and other brain tumours.

Area/Field of expertise

We have expertise in the following areas:

  1. Development of cell models and patient-derived xenografts (PDX) of paediatric solid tumours (retinoblastoma, neuroblastoma, DIPG, high-grade gliomas, medulloblastoma, AT-RT, rhabdomyosarcoma, Ewing's sarcoma, osteosarcoma, Wilms' tumour, germ cell tumours, malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumours) from biobank samples.
  2. Efficacy tests of anticancer agents used to treat paediatric solid tumours.
  3. Pharmacokinetic assays of anticancer agents in the central nervous system and in paediatric solid tumours.
  4. Biological sampling by microdialysis and analysis by high-resolution liquid chromatography (HPLC).
  5. Development of biopolymer drug delivery systems for paediatric solid tumours.

Group members

Last Publications

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Projects

Project name:
Immune microenvironment of retinoblastoma
Leader
Angel Montero Carcaboso
Funding entities:
Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII)
Code
PI21/00216
Starting - finishing date:
2022 - 2024
Project name:
Desenvolupament preclínic del fàrmac G2B-001 i aplicació en el tractament de tumors sòlids pediàtrics
Leader
Angel Montero Carcaboso
Funding entities:
Agaur - Agència de Gestió d'Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca
Code
2021 DI 008
Starting - finishing date:
2021 - 2024
Project name:
Rompiendo las barreras del cáncer infantil
Leader
Angel Montero Carcaboso
Funding entities:
Ibercaja Gestión S.G.I.I.C. S.A.
Code
PCP00335
Starting - finishing date:
2021 - 2022
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Theses

  • Development and application of xenograft models to predict the prognosis and study the treatment-driven evolution of pediatric sarcomas
    Author
    Castillo Ecija, Helena
    Institution
    UNIVERSIDAD DE BARCELONA
    22/03/2022
  • Polymeric nanocarriers modified with peptide shuttles for drug targeting to the central nervous system
    Institution
    Technion - Israel Institute of Technology
    12/11/2020
  • Estudio de la toxicidad local y sistémica de matrices de nanofibras cargadas con SN-38 en rata Wistar.
    Author
    Manzanares Quintela, Alejandro
    Institution
    UNIVERSIDAD DE BARCELONA
    19/09/2020
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