During an event held last night at ESADE, the scientist Joan Massagué urged an audience of around a hundred business and innovation professionals to get involved in the challenge of combating cancer metastasis: “We all need to get involved – political, social and economic agents, patient associations, philanthropic organisations and ordinary citizens – to accelerate metastasis research and achieve a real impact.” Dr. Massagué, head of the world-renowned Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, delivered the final talk at “Metastasis Challenge: From Research to Social Impact”. The session, organised by the Institute for Research in Biomedicine of Barcelona (IRB Barcelona) and ESADE Business School, was hosted by Francisco Longo, Associate Director General of ESADE, and Joan J. Guinovart, Director of IRB Barcelona.

In his opening remarks, Prof. Longo discussed the social magnitude of the problem of metastasis, which causes 90% of cancer-related deaths. “At ESADE, we pay special attention to the healthcare industry in all three areas of our mission: research, training and social debate,” he commented. “This ‘Metastasis Challenge’ session is a reflection of our commitment to the major social objective of improving people’s health.”

The next speaker, Joan J. Guinovart, thanked ESADE for “this fabulous opportunity to share the visions of various sectors that have common interests”. Metastasis – the spreading of a primary tumour to distant organs – is one of the key areas of research at IRB Barcelona, where more than 150 scientists are currently working on this subject. “At IRB Barcelona, we are making very important contributions and we believe that the current moment presents a unique opportunity to achieve decisive progress,” commented Mr. Guinovart.

Roger Gomis, Salvador Aznar Benitah and Eduard Batlle, ICREA researchers at IRB Barcelona, presented their respective laboratories’ most recent advances in areas such as the origin of metastasis, when and where metastasis occurs in relation to the primary tumour, and how to prevent and treat metastasis with strategies such as immunotherapy. Dr. Batlle explained: “We’re starting to understand metastasis and are therefore getting closer to being able to stop it and turn it into a treatable disease. The only way to keep moving forward is through basic research.”

The centrepiece of the event was a panel discussion on knowledge transfer and innovation, featuring Montserrat Vendrell, Partner at Alta Life Sciences; Manel Peiró, Director of the Institute for Healthcare Management at ESADE Business School; Andreu Mas-Colell, President of the Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology (BIST); and Roger Gomis, founder of an IRB Barcelona spinoff called Inbiomotion, which develops and commercialises biomarkers that predict metastasis. Oriol Alcoba, Director General of ESADECREAPOLIS, moderated the session.

The final talk by Joan Massagué, who serves as President of the External Advisory Board at IRB Barcelona and is a member of the BIST Board of Trustees, emphasised the main message of the event: “Basic research is the pillar of the therapies of the future.”