The CRIS Foundation against cancerreference entity in cancer research, organized this Saturday in the Madrid town of Las Rozas the II CRIS Race for research against childhood cancer, you have to runan annual sporting event that takes place in Spain, France, Belgium and Luxembourg and where it is not the one who runs the most who wins but the one who collects the most.
The race brought together boys and girls, cancer patients, doctors and researchers, a large number of families, anonymous people, businesses and well-known faces from sport, journalism and culture. All committed and aware of the importance of research as a key advance in the search for treatments that cure cancer, in this case childhood cancer.
The race was distinguished by the personal involvement of each participant: to access a bib, each adult had to personally collect 200 euros.
A collection of 40,000 euros
Many participants opted for the team modality, calling up to 80 people from their environment to support the race: the lymphoma patient, Carmen de Leyva raised more than 40,000 euros. On the other hand, two sisters from Madrid supported their brother currently in treatment at the CRIS Unit for Advanced Therapies in Childhood Cancer at the University Hospital of La Paz, raise 13,000 euros thanks to family and friends. Added to these personal stories is the involvement of businesses in civil society.
“Cancer is everyone’s business and this race demonstrates the commitment of thousands of people in research to find a cure. Research increases survival and gives patients another chance. In the case of childhood cancer, we cannot allow it to be the leading cause of death among our boys and girls in Europe. As a patient, it is clear to me that I am alive because of research,” he said. Lola Manterola, co-founder and president of the CRIS Foundation against canceras well as a patient with multiple myeloma.
The race began when the ribbon was cut at the starting arch: Manterola with her husband, Diego Mégia and co-founder of CRIS against cancer; doctors and researchers from the CRIS Unit for Advanced Therapies in Childhood Cancer at the University Hospital of La Paz; the mayor of Las Rozas, José de la Uz; Celia García Menéndez, General Director of Humanization, Care and Patient Safety of the Ministry of Health of the Community of Madrid; and boys and girls with cancer.
At the awards ceremony, Meri, mother of the girl who died of cancer at the age of five, read a statement. On stage, they joined José, Lucía’s father, currently in treatment at the CRIS Advanced Therapies Unit. All together and involved in a moment of emotion, they released white balloons in memory of all the boys and girls who died from this disease.
100% of the funds collected during this race, through the figures, will be donated to the research projects on childhood cancer of the European consortium Fight Kids Cancer of which the CRIS Foundation against cancer is a part.
The race, which took place simultaneously in Spain, Luxembourg, France and Belgium, raised 5 million euros for research against childhood cancer. In Spain, the final collection was 250,000 euros.
You can continue to collaborate until October 31 by making a donation to any group or to line 0 of this link: https://hayquecorrer.criscancer.org/es/page/cris-cancer-fila-0
Childhood cancer figures in Spain
Childhood cancer remains the leading cause of death among children under 14 years of age in developed countries.
childhood cancer It is fortunately rare, but its impact on the lives ofBoys and girls and their families It’s usually overwhelming. Currently, in developed countries, cancer is the leading cause of death among children under the age of 14, which means that we face a very significant challenge.
It is estimated that every year in Spain around 1,600 boys, girls and adolescents are diagnosed with different types of pediatric tumors, among which the most common are leukemias, central nervous system tumors, lymphomas and neuroblastomas. Fortunately, survival is far above 80% globally– even if many minors do not respond to treatment or relapse. To address the 20% who do not respond to traditional treatments, it is essential to promote research into appropriate treatments that also minimize side effects.
The CRIS unit for advanced therapies
In 2018, the CRIS Cancer Foundation established the pioneering CRIS Research Unit for Advanced Childhood Cancer Therapies at La Paz University Hospital in Madrid, where more than 886 boys and girls were treated suffering from very diverse diseases and tumors: acute lymphoblastic leukemia, acute myeloblastic leukemia, mixed phenotype leukemiaaplasia, primary immunodeficiencies or Hodgkin lymphoma. A large number of solid tumors have also been treated including Ewing’s sarcoma, osteosarcoma, medulloblastoma, neuroblastoma, gliomas, etc.
This unit, led by Dr. Antonio Pérez Martínez, combines the most advanced research with the development of clinical trials to treat cancer patients who do not respond to other treatments.
The CRIS Cancer Foundation has invested 7.144 million euros in the CRIS Unit for Advanced Therapies of Childhood Cancers.
Currently, the CRIS Cancer Foundation, in Spain, funds research projects against childhood cancer at the Niño Jesús Hospital in Madrid, at the Sant Joan de Deu Hospital in Barcelona, at the INCLIVA Health Research Institute and at the Institute of Biomedicine of Seville – IBIS-. In the United Kingdom, this is what he is doing at the Institute of Cancer Research.
