Leukemia is the most common cancer in children. It affects more than 350 boys and girls a year in our country, a third are under 4 years of age. Childhood leukemia is considered rare and it is not potentially profitable for the industry to investigate it.
With more than 300 researchers and more than 10,000 m², the Josep Carreras Leukemia Research Institute is the largest center in Europe exclusively focused on leukemia and other blood cancers. They have four lines of study:
- Leukemias in infants, especially the rarest and worst prognosis. This is the challenge and what drives the work of Dr. Pablo Menéndez's laboratory.
- Until a few years ago, juvenile myelomonocytic leukemia did not have its own treatment protocol. It affects 5 babies/year in Spain. This is the challenge of Dr. Laura Belver.
- Dr. Biola M. Javierre's team seeks to describe new therapeutic targets in acute lymphoblastic leukemia: new genes that may be involved in the development of cancer.
- Dr. Maribel Parra's team investigates the role of B lymphocytes in different blood diseases and, especially, in a subtype of childhood leukemia with a very poor prognosis.
Through this campaign, you can help finance the research led by these four doctors.
