MD Anderson to open new cancer care & research centre in Spain in 2013
MD Anderson, one of the world's leading cancer treatment and research facilities, is to open a new cancer centre in Madrid in 2013 with a state-of-the-art research programme.
MD Anderson, one of the world's leading cancer treatment and research facilities, is to open a new cancer centre in Madrid in 2013 with a state-of-the-art research programme.
"We'll be carrying out Phase I, II, II and IV clinical trials at the new centre with a special emphasis on rare tumours," said Dr Ramon Colomer, the director of cancer care and clinical research at the MD Anderson Centro Oncologico. "It will certainly be one of the most important cancer centres in Spain and in Europe and will allow us to concentrate our investigations into those rare types of the disease such as pancreatic and renal cancers."
MD Anderson's existing facility in Madrid, the first and only one outside the US, opened in 2000. "But we need to expand and now we have the opportunity," Colomer explained.
Two weeks ago, MD Anderson signed an agreement with the Madrid city government, which will donate the land for a 70,000m2 complex near the international airport. Plans call for a 150-bed hospital, a hotel for patients and families, a training centre and the research facility. Financial details are still being negotiated.
"By 2015, we'll be carrying out 50 clinical trials a year. We're planning on joint trials with the MD Anderson centre in Houston and Spanish universities and not just with pharmaceutical companies," the director said. "This will be a real boost for cancer research in Spain, which has already improved dramatically over the past 15 years."
MD Anderson in Madrid currently has a staff of 90 physicians and treats around 3,500 patients a year.
