MORESCREEN: Enhancing Colorectal Cancer Screening through the Complementary Role of Liquid Biopsy
MORESCREEN is a European project co-funded by the European Union through the EIT Health Programme*. This programme aims to address Europe´s key health priorities by supporting innovative solutions that directly improve people's health and quality of life.
Every year new products or services are selected to accelerate their development and bring them closer to society. MORESCREEN is one of these initiatives.
The project focuses on colorectal cancer (CRC) screening programmes, which often face two major challenges: low participation rates and significant backlogs for colonoscopies. MORESCREEN evaluates a novel liquid biopsy diagnostic tool designed to address these issues.
This innovative blood test detects colorectal cancer and premalignant lesions in asymptomatic individuals. It is currently the only CE-marked blood test for CRC detection available in Europe.
MORESCREEN is driven by a strong consortium of eight partners from Spain, Portugal, and the Netherlands, coordinated by Advanced Marker Discovery (AMADIX).
At Hospital Universitario Ramón y Cajal (Madrid, Spain), activities are mainly focused on the clinical validation work package, which includes patient recruitment and data collection. Across the consortium, approximately 1,000 individuals are expected to be enrolled in Protocol 1, and up to 2,000 in Protocol 2. This requires a carefully designed workflow that integrates primary care, where eligible patients are identified, with hospital-based procedures for sample collection and follow-up.
The Hospital Ramón y Cajal team is led by Dr. Agustín Albillos, Head of the Liver and Digestive Diseases Group (Area 5, Chronic Pathologies and Surgery Research) at IRYCIS, and Chair of the Gastroenterology and Hepatology Department at the hospital. He is also Professor of Medicine at the University of Alcalá.
With more than 130 scientific publications, Dr. Albillos brings extensive experience in clinical trials and competitive research projects, both at the national and international level. He has served as President of the Spanish Association for the Study of the Liver, President of the Scientific Commission of the Spanish Society of Digestive Pathology, and has been a member of the Royal National Academy of Medicine since 2011. In addition, Dr. Albillos has coordinated the Colon Cancer Prevention Plan of the Community of Madrid since 2017. This background makes him an outstanding leader for the clinical vision of the MORESCREEN project.
*EIT Health is supported by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), a body of the European Union
"MORESCREEN exemplifies the importance of bringing technological advances in biomedicine to society. Commitment to innovation and scientific evidence is always a good idea."
