Pancreatic cancer is indeed a scary disease. This is because, when it becomes symptomatic enough to be detected and diagnosed, it has , in many cases, already disseminated, with  metastatic tumor cells invading other organs. 

Actually, it is among the most deadly forms of cancer, with an estimated five-year survival rate of around 3% once it has become metastatic, down from 44% when it is still localised, according to recent figures from the US National Cancer Institute. 

A Global Spotlight on a Silent Threat

The exponential rise in pancreatic cancer cases, particularly in industrialised nations, has prompted these leading research centres to join forces. With pancreatic cancer poised to become the second leading cause of cancer death in Europe and the USA within the next two decades, these institutions are emphasising the urgent need for enhanced public awareness about the disease.

On November 16th, World Pancreatic Cancer Day aims to raise awareness of this deadly disease, with the ultimate goal of improving survival rates and reducing the risks of pancreatic cancer globally.

In this audio interview, Gonçalo explains how this grant will fund ongoing work on Lesional Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) that is being developed in collaboration with several members of the Neuropsychiatry Unit. The proposal is to use the results from this work to test a new treatment for OCD through transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), which will include the Neuropsychiatry Unit’s first clinical trial using therapeutic TMS.
 

Listen to the full audio recording to find out more!

Cancer immunotherapy is any treatment that uses our own immune system to fight cancer. There are several types of immunotherapy, some of which are already being used routinely, and others still mostly experimental. They are generally a second line of treatment, following chemotherapy, radiotherapy or surgery. 

The new programme aims to increase the detection of MPM, focusing on workers at asbestos cement factories, in Portugal, who have been exposed to asbestos since the 1960’s, and covering a total of around 200 people who have already been identified by SOS Amianto.
 

This agreement, formally signed yesterday in a ceremony that took place at the Lisbon City Hall, will allow women under 50 in the city to undergo free breast cancer screenings. This initiative, set to be implemented by the end of the year, aims to tackle the alarming rise in cancer incidence among younger women.

Through the provision of these two-year collaborative research grants, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI) programme aims to accelerate cutting-edge research and technology in metabolism and metabolic physiology. The objective of these grants is to map, measure, and integrate metabolism across different scales—from molecules and organelles to cells and tissues—deepening our understanding of human biology, and to investigate the metabolic processes that maintain physiological homeostasis.

The Champalimaud Foundation, a private non-profit research institution located in Lisbon, Portugal, has achieved a significant milestone in cancer research and pre-clinical development by obtaining exclusive rights to deploy synthetic biology technologies initially licensed from Stanford University and further developed by Refuge Biotechnologies (Refuge), a pioneering synthetic biology company specialising in cancer immunotherapy.

A novel infrastructure for storing, consulting and analysing medical data will be presented at the Open Day of the Champalimaud Foundation (FC) Breast Unit, which is taking place today, October 16. It was created by the Unit's Digital Surgery Lab, a multidisciplinary team led by surgeon Pedro Gouveia, in partnership with the telecommunications company Altice and the Portuguese company BMD Software.