Alliance for Pancreatic Cancer Research in Spain

ALIPANC was created and managed during the pandemic and has continued to grow over the past months, now bringing together 63 groups and 202 members from 30 hospitals and 33 research centers across Spain. Its community includes clinical researchers (oncologists, gastroenterologists, surgeons, immunologists, radiologists, pathologists), basic scientists, epidemiologists, statisticians, and bioinformaticians

Collaboration between the groups is a fact with studies already underway. Collaborations have also been established with external groups and entities, both nationally and internationally. Building common resources (databases, biobanks) in a federated way using the same protocols is among the challenges of ALIPANC.

Attracting and training young researchers is a major commitment for ALIPANC.

CANCER OF THE CANCER OF THE NARROW

Pancreatic cancer is one of the most aggressive tumors and, despite its relatively low incidence, it ranks very high in terms of mortality. In Spain, 8,211 pancreatic cancer patients were diagnosed in 2020 and 7,568 died that same year.

When a patient is diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, he loses 98% of his life expectancy, as the median survival is still about 7 months, and only 7% of patients survive 5 years after diagnosis.

Although increasingly effective treatments are available, very fewpatients are able to benefit from them, as the majority (80%) of patients are diagnosed when the tumor is already in advanced stages.

Moreover, the fact that its frequency is increasing significantly in our environment will turn this tumor into a relevant public health problem if measures are not taken quickly.

The scant interest it has aroused until now in society due to its lack of knowledge, in medical and research circles due to the limited availability of options for the management of these patients and the difficulties in researching this cancer, and in funding agencies due to its low incidence and prevalence, has meant that there have been no significant advances in the control of this disease in comparison with other currently preventable and curable cancers, such as breast cancer. All this explains why pancreatic cancer is out of control.