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In an interview published in "El País", in the supplement "Medicina", Joan Massagué, adjunct director of IRB Barcelona, explains that his research interests now focus on understanding "the latent phase of metastasis". The scientist is studying what happens from the moment of tumour diagnosis and its surgical removal to when, months or years later, the patient begins to feel unwell again and he/she is diagnosed with metastasis. "What has happened during this time? How and where have the cancer cells that escaped from the tumour before its removal survived? We study how to attack and remove these latent cells before metastasis occurs", explains the researcher. In addition, in the same interview, Massagué reflects on the current position of science in Spain: "we should ensure that exceptional opportunities have more funding and that the good ones could mantain its funding too, thus guaranteeing a future."
Read the interview in El País (PDF in Spanish)
Link to El País
About IRB Barcelona
The Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona) pursues a society free of disease. To this end, it conducts multidisciplinary research of excellence to cure cancer and other diseases linked to ageing. It establishes technology transfer agreements with the pharmaceutical industry and major hospitals to bring research results closer to society, and organises a range of science outreach activities to engage the public in an open dialogue. IRB Barcelona is an international centre that hosts 400 researchers and more than 30 nationalities. Recognised as a Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence since 2011, IRB Barcelona is a CERCA centre and member of the Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology (BIST).
