XXXIII FERO Grant – Dr. Eva María Novoa

Cancer mortality remains high because many tumors are diagnosed at advanced stages. To improve survival, we need early detection methods that are fast, affordable, and non-invasive.

The project, led by Dr. Eva María Novoa and funded by FERO Cancer with the sponsorship of Fundación Ramón Areces, seeks to develop a new diagnostic strategy that is simple, inexpensive, and non-invasive, enabling not only early diagnosis but also identification of the tumor of origin. To achieve this, the team will optimize a method for detecting and identifying RNA molecules in blood, using next-generation sequencing tools. Although the project focuses on lung cancer, the team hopes this strategy can be used in the future for other types of cancer.

The ultimate goal is to lay the groundwork for applying this new detection strategy to the entire population to enable early diagnosis and improve the prognosis of cancer patients.