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News / Press release

  • 16/09/2021 - Press release

    The Mediterranean diet helps improve cognitive function and memory

    Older adults who are overweight or obese who stick most closely to the Mediterranean diet preserve their cognitive performance and even improve their abilities after three years, according to a study led by researchers at the Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute and the CIBEROBN, published in the journal Clinical Nutrition.  Memory improvements are proportional to the level of adherence to the Mediterranean diet, weight loss and increased physical activity. At the same time, these changes translate into improvements in people's quality of life.  The work is based on the PREDIMED-PLUS trial and shows that women and people with less education gain less benefit on a cognitive level from this type of dietary intervention. This leads the researchers to support the personalization of these approaches in order to maximize the benefit. 

    Més informació "The Mediterranean diet helps improve cognitive function and memory"

  • 12/08/2021 - Press release

    Way to avoid treatment resistance for one of the most aggressive breast cancers identified

    A study led by doctors and researchers from Hospital del Mar, the Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute (IMIM), and CIBER Oncology (CIBERONC) has demonstrated the role a protein, neuregulin, plays in generating resistance to the most common treatment for HER2-positive breast cancer, one of the most aggressive types. The study, published in the journal Clinical Cancer Research, and in which leading Italian researchers Luca Gianni from the Fondazione Gianni Bonnadonna and Giampaolo Bianchini from the IRCCS Ospedale San Raffaele have collaborated, has identified that in patients with high levels of this protein, the success rate with the monoclonal antibody trastuzumab, the first-line drug, drops. Conversely, when combined with another monoclonal antibody, pertuzumab, the situation is reversed and full pathological response levels are restored.

    Més informació "Way to avoid treatment resistance for one of the most aggressive breast cancers identified"

  • 06/08/2021 - Press release

    $200,000 grant for lung cancer research at Hospital del Mar

    A Hospital del Mar project to determine new prognostic and predictive markers that could be beneficial in metastatic small cell lung cancer treatment, using genetic analysis techniques, has been awarded $200,000 from the Oncomine Clinical Research Grant programme, promoted by the US-based multinational biotech company Thermo Fisher Scientific, which supports research that enables advances in the field of molecular patient profiling, with the aim of improving clinical outcomes. The research was led by Dr. Edurne Arriola, head of the lung cancer section in the Medical Oncology Service and a researcher at the Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute (IMIM), and Dr. Beatriz Bellosillo, head of the Medical Oncology Service and also an IMIM researcher. To undertake the project, they will analyse samples from 300 patients with this pathology, collected over the last 10 years. The research will focus on evaluating the potential of the liquid biopsy technique, which can detect DNA from tumour cells in the blood, to monitor the disease and its evolution, as well as detecting potential biomarkers of treatment benefit and predictors of long-term prognosis.

    Més informació "$200,000 grant for lung cancer research at Hospital del Mar"

  • 29/07/2021 - Press release

    Mechanism that triggers brain neurone response revealed

    Researchers from the G-protein-coupled receptor-based drug development research group at the Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute (IMIM) have been able to verify, with a degree of precision never before achieved, how the process that triggers the response of neurones in the brain occurs. This is an essential mechanism for understanding how moods or even processes such as addictions are produced, and in which neurotransmitters, molecules that help transmit information between neurones through specialised receptors, the G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), play a vital role. "Neurotransmission is one of the most crucial physiological processes, as its dysregulation can result in various neuropsychiatric disorders", explains Dr. Jana Selent, principal author of the study, published in the journal Chemical Science, and coordinator of the research group that led the work. Very small changes in how information is transmitted by these molecules can trigger different reactions in the brain, some of which are linked to behaviour, addictions and moods.

    Més informació "Mechanism that triggers brain neurone response revealed"

  • 21/07/2021 - Press release

    Having higher levels of omega-3 acids in the blood increases life expectancy by almost five years

    Levels of omega-3 fatty acids in the blood are as good a predictor of mortality from any cause as smoking, according to a study involving the Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute (IMIM), in collaboration with The Fatty Acid Research Institute in the United States and several universities in the United States and Canada. The study, published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, used data from a long-term study group, the Framingham Offspring Cohort, which has been monitoring residents of this Massachusetts town, in the United States, since 1971. Researchers have found that omega-3 levels in blood erythrocytes (the so-called red blood cells) are very good mortality risk predictors. 

    Més informació "Having higher levels of omega-3 acids in the blood increases life expectancy by almost five years"

  • Press release

    A new approach to metastatic melanoma discovered

    Combining chemotherapy with a BRAF oncogene inhibitor proves effective at treating this disease. The study, published in the journal Oncogene, was led by researchers from the Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute, Hospital del Mar and CIBERONC. This alternative paves the way towards a new approach for patients affected by this type of tumor, which has no cure in the most advanced stages or cases of relapse.

    Més informació "A new approach to metastatic melanoma discovered"

  • 22/06/2021 - Press release

    More than 6% of Europeans suffer from depression

    6.4% of the European population suffers from depression, according to a study published in The Lancet Public Health. The work was led by researchers from King's College London, the Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute (IMIM), the Parc de Recerca Sant Joan de Déu-Institut de Recerca Sant Joan de Déu, the Institute of Biomedicine at the University of León (IBIOMED), and the CIBER on Epidemiology and Public Health (CIBERESP). This figure is higher than that estimated by the World Health Organisation (WHO), which calculated the prevalence of this pathology in the European region at 4.2%. Depression is considered to be one of the leading causes of disability around the world, increasing the risk of premature death, decreasing quality of life and being a heavy burden on health systems. In fact, it is estimated that it may affect more than 300 million people worldwide.

    Més informació "More than 6% of Europeans suffer from depression"

  • 21/06/2021 - Press release

    PEGASUS study launched to optimise post-surgical treatment of colon cancer using liquid biopsy

    As a result of the collaboration between research centres in Italy and Spain, the PEGASUS study has been launched with the aim of demonstrating that, thanks to the liquid biopsy guidance tool, it is possible to increase the precision of post-surgical treatment for colon cancer patients. The Vall d'Hebron Institute of Oncology (VHIO), part of the Vall d'Hebron Campus, and the Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute (IMIM), both in Barcelona; and the INCLIVA Health Research Institute at Hospital Clínico in Valencia, are the three Spanish centres taking part in this project. The study was instigated by Dr. Silvia Marsoni, from the FIRC Institute of Molecular Oncology (IFOM) in Milan, and is supported by the AIRC Foundation within the 5x1000 programme, which is coordinated by Prof. Alberto Bardelli of the University of Turin and the Institute of Candiolo FPO-IRCCS.

    Més informació "PEGASUS study launched to optimise post-surgical treatment of colon cancer using liquid biopsy"

  • 19/05/2021 - Press release

    Liquid biopsy can predict relapse in patients with locally advanced rectal cancer

    Liquid biopsy can predict which patients with localised rectal cancer are likely to relapse, even after initial chemotherapy and radiotherapy treatment, and prior to surgery. This is supported by a study led by doctors and researchers from the Medical Oncology and Pathology Departments at Hospital del Mar, as well as the Hospital de Mar Medical Research Institute (IMIM) and the CIBER in cancer (CIBERONC), which has been published in the American Association for Cancer Research journal, Clinical Cancer Research. The study analysed samples from 72 patients from twenty hospitals in Spain, taken as part of the GEMCAD1402 clinical trial conducted by the Spanish Multidisciplinary Group on Digestive Cancer.

    Més informació "Liquid biopsy can predict relapse in patients with locally advanced rectal cancer"

  • 13/05/2021 - Press release

    Hospital del Mar leads clinical trial of a new tool for detecting the sentinel lymph node in prostate cancer

    Hospital del Mar-IMIM is leading an international clinical trial to evaluate the performance and suitability of new equipment for locating the sentinel lymph node in prostate cancer patients. The new tool is a flexible, miniaturized probe, which should improve the detection of a marker (a radioactive molecule) injected into the patient to locate the first node the tumour drains to. The technology SENSEI®, has been developed by the UK company Lightpoint Medical with the support of the Hospital del Mar Urology Service.

    Més informació "Hospital del Mar leads clinical trial of a new tool for detecting the sentinel lymph node in prostate cancer"

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