The Eric Abidal Foundation and the Vall d'Hebron Research Institute recently signed a donation agreement to help promote research activities in child cancer and specifically those aimed at the research of malignant tumors with high metastatic potential in childhood. The beneficiary of this agreement will be a project led by Dr. Josep Roma, of the Translational Research in Child and Adolescent Cancer at VHIR, and directed by Dr. Josep Sánchez de Toledo and Dr. Soledad Gallego.This agreement lasts for one year and the Eric Abidal Foundation pledges to make 4 donations which, in total, amoun to 37,300 euros. The first donation, of 10,000 euros was made on 14 November.Research project to block the implantation of metastasisThe investigation of the factors that regulate metastasis began many years ago when the high frequency of metastasis was observed for some time in some organs in particular, according to the primary tumor of origin. Today, we know that the place of metastatization is not accidental, since each type of tumor has a predilection for certain host organs and that all this process is controlled by molecular factors. While surgical resection and adjuvant therapy are mostly effective in primary tumors, the metastatic disease usually does not respond so adequately.This explains why metastasis is responsible for 90% of deaths due to cancer. For this reason, the research of the factors that intervene in the metastatic process and the development of therapeutic agents against the key steps of the metastatic cascade is vital in order to try to curb this process.For this reason, the present project focuses on the pharmacological inhibition of one of the key elements of the metastatic process, thus making it difficult for tumor cells to implant in the target tissue. The blockage by means of specific drugs of this key point of the tumor invasion has shown to have a very clear effect on the implantation of the metastatic cells in animal models of rhabdomyosarcoma (one of the most frequent malignant solids tumors in childhood) according to previous experiments of the group (protection close to 75%). "Since this metastatic mechanism seems to be general, we suggest that the extension of the study to other child tumors (or even adult tumors) could have a significant interest for the development of new therapies based on the blockage of the implantation of metastasis", explains Dr. Josep Roma, principal investigator of the Translational Research in Child and Adolescent Cancer at VHIR and responsible for this research project.Eric Abidal FoundationEric Abidal Foundation is a non-profit organization founded in 2013 on the initiative of Eric Abidal, former Barça footballer, and his wife, Hayet Abidal.The main purpose of the Foundation is the funding and promotion of oncology research, as well as the improvement of the living conditions of cancer patients and their families. It also undertakes projects to improve the living conditions of minors at risk of social exclusion and develops projects that promote the practice of sport, more specifically football, as a tool to improve the physical and mental health of the population, their social integration and the dissemination of values.