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\u201cClinical trials aren\u2019t only a tool for research but also represent <\/span>a real possibility of treatment for patients who\u2019ve exhausted many other options<\/b>\u201d. This is the premise with which Elena Garralda, Director of <\/span>UITM-CaixaResearch at VHIO<\/span><\/a>, validates each of the new therapies promoted by this research unit.<\/span><\/p>\n One example of this is the clinical trial for the European project <\/span>PragmaTIL<\/span><\/a>, led by <\/span>VHIO<\/span><\/a>. With the participation of 12 institutions from 6 countries, including <\/span>\u201cla Caixa\u201d Foundation, <\/b>this trial has treated the first patient with an innovative immunotherapy<\/strong><\/a>.<\/span> Its aim? To improve the care of people with resistant tumours, reducing the treatment\u2019s toxicity but without it losing any efficacy.<\/span><\/p>\n TIL stands for Tumour Infiltrating Lymphocytes and it\u2019s an immunotherapy that attacks tumour cells using the body\u2019s own strategy. First, some immune system cells called lymphocytes are extracted from the patient\u2019s tumour. After these cells have been multiplied and activated to <\/span>enhance their capacity<\/b>, they\u2019re reintroduced back into the patient like an \u201carmy\u201d, <\/span>to attack and destroy the tumour cells more effectively.<\/b><\/p>\n This new therapy is in addition to a long list of advances that endorse <\/span>the UITM\u2019s track record<\/b>. Today, on International Clinical Trials Day, we look at these advances together with the unit\u2019s Director, Elena Garralda.<\/span><\/p>\n Since it was started up almost 15 years ago, the UITM-CaixaResearch at the VHIO has established itself as a <\/span>European benchmark for early phase clinical trials<\/b> with over 10,000 patients and more than 70 new drugs and indications approved.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m proud of the fact that three of the trials we\u2019ve led have been first-in-human [tested on humans for the first time] with <\/span>drugs developed at our own labs<\/b>, demonstrating VHIO\u2019s translational approach to research: taking discoveries from the lab to patients as quickly as possible\u201d explains Elena Garralda.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n However, a 15-year track record is not only represented by numbers but also by the lessons learned.<\/b> \u201cThanks to research, we now have a better understanding of the biology of tumours and have designed drugs aimed at specific genome alterations. As a result, we can be increasingly precise in our selection of those patients who\u2019ll benefit most from one treatment or another. What\u2019s known as <\/span>precision oncology<\/b>\u201d she adds.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n But the most important lesson is related to the clinical trials themselves. \u201cToday we see them as <\/span>real therapeutic opportunities for patients<\/b> who have no other alternative to treat their tumours. As a result, how they\u2019re designed and implemented has changed a lot\u201d Garralda points out.<\/span><\/p>\n UITM-CaixaResearch has a molecular pre-screening programme that analyses the genome profile of each tumour before a clinical trial starts. Advances such as this, together with a specialised, multidisciplinary structure, <\/span>have helped to reduce the times <\/b>from when a drug is developed in a lab to its testing on patients, <\/span>going from cycles of 8-10 years down to 2-5 years.<\/b><\/p>\n Elena Garralda, Director of UITM-CaixaResearch at VHIO.<\/em><\/p>\n According to the Director of UITM-CaixaResearch, we\u2019re facing two major challenges: <\/span>reducing the toxicity of therapies and understanding the heterogeneous nature of cancer<\/b>. There\u2019s no single type of tumour; in fact, cancers can have very different genetic alterations even within the same organ, making it difficult to find new therapies and biomarkers.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re working on predicting who might truly benefit from each specific treatment and <\/span>we\u2019re focusing increasingly on new therapeutic strategies with more favourable toxicity profiles, such as immunotherapy<\/b>\u201d explains Garralda<\/span>.<\/b> \u201cOur aim isn\u2019t just to prolong patients\u2019 lives but also to preserve their physical and emotional well-being as much as possible throughout the process\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n Technology will play a vital role in this path towards personalised medicine. <\/span>Artificial intelligence and data-based medicine<\/b> are likely to transform how clinical trials are designed and monitored, making them more agile, accessible and representative.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n We hope to be able to write about these advances very soon.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u201cClinical trials aren\u2019t only a tool for research but also represent a real possibility of treatment for patients who\u2019ve exhausted many other options\u201d. This is the premise with which Elena Garralda, Director of UITM-CaixaResearch at VHIO<\/a>, validates each of the new therapies promoted by this research unit.<\/p>\n One example of this is the clinical trial for the European project PragmaTIL<\/a>, led by VHIO<\/a>. With the participation of 12 institutions from 6 countries, including \u201cla Caixa\u201d Foundation, this trial has treated the first patient with an innovative immunotherapy<\/a>. Its aim? To improve the care of people with resistant tumours, reducing the treatment\u2019s toxicity but without it losing any efficacy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10322","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sin-categorizar"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nLet\u2019s talk about achievements and lessons learned<\/b><\/h2>\n
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<\/p>\nWhat are the challenges in the short and medium-term?<\/b><\/h2>\n
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