IR Sant Pau Receives €300,000 From La Marató to Advance a New Strategy Against Ovarian Cancer

Cancer research will receive a new boost thanks to the €14.4 million raised during the 2025 edition of La Marató de 3Cat, which will fund 38 projects involving 91 research teams. Among the selected initiatives is a project from the Institut de Recerca Sant Pau (IR Sant Pau), led by Dr. María Virtudes Céspedes, head of the Gynecological and Peritoneal Oncology Research Group, which has received €300,000 to explore new therapeutic strategies against ovarian cancer.

The funded projects address different aspects of the disease, from prevention and diagnosis to the development of more effective treatments. Over the next three years, the research teams will work to expand knowledge of cancer and advance new tools that could help improve care and the therapeutic options available to patients.

The 38 selected projects were chosen from 201 proposals submitted to the call through an international evaluation process coordinated by the Agency for Health Quality and Assessment of Catalonia (AQuAS), involving 169 cancer experts. The evaluation considered criteria such as scientific quality and methodology, health and social relevance, and the innovative and transformative potential of the research. The selected teams received their awards at a ceremony held on November 5 at TV3.

A New Therapeutic Strategy for Ovarian Cancer

The IR Sant Pau project, entitled “Smart Delivery of Ribonucleases for the Treatment of Ovarian Cancer,” aims to explore new therapeutic strategies against this disease, for which more effective treatments are still needed.

The research will focus on the potential of ribonucleases, enzymes capable of degrading ribonucleic acid (RNA), as a tool to combat tumor cells. These molecules are of interest in oncology research because of their potential antitumor activity, but harnessing their therapeutic potential requires overcoming several challenges, particularly those related to their administration and delivery to the target cells.

To address these limitations, the research team will investigate smart delivery systems that could improve the use of ribonucleases in the treatment of ovarian cancer. This approach seeks to advance the development of new therapeutic tools that could eventually help expand the treatment options available to patients.

“This funding gives us the opportunity to advance a line of research in which we have high expectations and to explore new possibilities for tackling ovarian cancer. We know that the path from research to making new treatments available to patients is long, but every advance matters. The support from La Marató allows us to continue working toward this goal and also recognizes the efforts of the entire research team,” says Dr. Céspedes.