The association was created following the personal experience of Iris’s family, after Iris was diagnosed with childhood cancer in 2022, together with Dr. Ramon Brugada from Hospital Josep Trueta. After a long oncological and surgical treatment process, the family decided to transform their experience into a solidarity project with a clear goal: to raise funds for childhood cancer research through solidarity initiatives, private donations, and the collaboration of other families, associations, local entities, organizations, and companies.

“Like many other families, we prioritize donations allocated to research. The fight against cancer can only move forward by raising funds for research, because research saves lives,” emphasizes Daniel Ros, Iris’s father.

In Catalonia, between 170 and 190 new cases of cancer are diagnosed each year in children aged 0 to 14, and this disease remains the leading cause of death by illness in children over one year of age. In this context, solidarity becomes a key element in advancing research, improving available treatments, and offering hope to many families.

The donation to VHIR is part of the €29,000 raised by the Iris Association. The remaining funds are allocated to research into pediatric diseases at Hospital Josep Trueta. This amount is possible thanks to the fact that the association has no personnel or infrastructure expenses, which guarantees that 100% of the donations go directly to medical research.

From donation to research

The funds raised are used to promote two innovative research lines focused on improving the diagnosis and treatment of pediatric brain tumors and other childhood tumors.

First, the personalized medicine program makes it possible to study the complete genetic profile of childhood tumors in order to select the best treatment for each patient. Thanks to this approach, specific alterations in each tumor can be identified and patients can be evaluated for inclusion in promising clinical trials. In addition, preclinical models are being developed using patient samples to test new therapies and advance the research of more effective treatments. This program is coordinated from Vall d’Hebron, which acts as the national reference center for molecular diagnosis.

Second, work is underway on the development of liquid biopsies, a minimally invasive technique that analyzes blood or cerebrospinal fluid samples to identify genetic alterations in the tumor. This approach significantly reduces the need for invasive procedures, allows tumors to be diagnosed more accurately—not only through surgical interventions but also through other diagnostic tests that may require hospitalization or sedation—and facilitates monitoring of disease progression over time. Through advanced tools such as genetic sequencing and computational analysis of complex data using artificial intelligence models, relevant information can be obtained on treatment response and the possible emergence of resistance.

“These research projects represent hope for many children and families, with the ultimate goal of improving their therapeutic options and quality of life,” adds Dr. Miquel Segura, principal investigator of the Childhood Cancer and Hematological Diseases Group at VHIR.