• Hospital Trueta and The Ricky Rubio Foundation sign a collaboration agreement to advance in the study of the detection of tumor genetic material as a tool for early diagnosis of the disease.

The University Hospital of Girona Doctor Josep Trueta and The Ricky Rubio Foundation have decided to work together with the utmost determination in a project aimed at the early detection of lung cancer.

Since it was launched in 2018, the fight against this disease is one of the objectives of the Ricky Rubio Foundation, especially focused on the prevention of lung cancer through different means of dissemination; the realization of media campaigns; actions in the territory and also the support, as is the case, to medical and scientific research.

The Pneumology Service of the Hospital Trueta of Girona has opened a line of research to try to detect -by using high-precision molecular techniques in plasma and other lung fluids- tumor genetic material in patients with lung cancer at an early stage of the disease (stage I). Achieving this is key to the successful treatment of a very lethal malignancy – a disease that often does not manifest itself until it has developed a very advanced stage, at which point it becomes very difficult to act with therapeutic efficacy.

The Ricky Rubio Foundation and the Trueta Hospital have made clear this willingness to collaborate by signing an agreement in favor of the objective of studying whether the detection of this tumor genetic material can become a reliable tool, sensitive, non-invasive and specific to be incorporated into clinical practice, as well as to have an analytical validity that allows early diagnosis of lung cancer and thus increase the life expectancy of these patients.

The agreement states that the practical applicability of this Trueta study is to generate new criteria in the understanding of lung cancer and to identify new diagnostic and follow-up strategies that will have a direct impact on improving the quality of life of patients and society.

Currently, the research team of the Pneumology Service of Trueta is recruiting patients to initiate the study and performing preliminary tests to optimize the circuits and sample collection. Likewise, the Respiratory Group of the Institute for Biomedical Research of Girona (IDIBGI) is already processing and cryopreserving the samples obtained. This project will also count with the collaboration of universities and international entities.

The Ricky Rubio Foundation expresses its commitment to collaborate in the study through the contribution of resources, the promotion of communication actions to raise awareness of the project and the organization of solidarity events, together with the Trueta Hospital and other non-profit organizations, for the benefit of the project. It also wishes to thank, encourage and give the maximum support to all the people involved in the study, which can truly contribute a new milestone in the fight against lung cancer.