- The hospital center is part of a consortium made up of only nine european hospitals
- The study evaluates a personalized surveillance model to reduce cancer risk and avoid aggressive surgeries
Alicante (11.05.26). Doctor Balmis General University Hospital and the Alicante Institute for Health and Biomedical Research (ISABIAL) are taking part in the European Consortium on Familial Adenomatous Polyposis, an international project focused on improving the management and follow‑up of patients with this hereditary disease associated with a high oncological risk.
The consortium is working on the development of more personalized strategies for the control of this condition and is made up of only nine European centers, of which the hospital and ISABIAL are members.
The participation of the Alicante center in this project was presented during the ninth edition of the Gastroenterology Course and the fifteenth edition of the Hepatology Course, organized by the Digestive Medicine Department on May 7 and 8 at Doctor Balmis Hospital.
The manager of the Alicante–General Hospital Health Department, Francisco Soriano, highlighted that ‘participation in this European project demonstrates the commitment of our professionals to research, innovation, and the continuous improvement of care for patients with complex pathologies’.
The project is led by Professor Dr. Evelien Dekker from the Amsterdam University Medical Center. At Doctor Balmis Hospital, the project leads are Dr. Rodrigo Jover, head of the Digestive Medicine Department and leader of ISABIAL’s Colorectal Cancer: Prevention and Management Research Group, together with Dr. Sandra Baile, consultant in the department.
Follow‑up tailored to each patient
Familial adenomatous polyposis is a hereditary disease caused mainly by a genetic alteration in the APC gene. In its most aggressive forms, patients develop numerous polyps in the colon and rectum from an early age and, if untreated, the development of colorectal cancer becomes almost inevitable between the ages of 35 and 45. In addition, lesions may appear in the duodenum and stomach, and even tumors outside the digestive tract, which makes continuous medical follow‑up necessary even after surgery.
‘The main objective of the study is to evaluate a new personalized strategy for surveillance and endoscopic treatment in these patients’, explained Dr. Jover. The study proposes a shift from the traditional model of fixed periodic check‑ups to a follow‑up adapted to the clinical evolution of each patient.
‘Until now, we worked with check‑ups scheduled every one or two years. With this new model, follow‑up intervals are adjusted according to the clinical situation and the findings obtained in each endoscopy’, Jover noted. The monitoring intervals may range from three months to two years and are determined by factors such as the degree of polyp clearance achieved, the level of dysplasia detected, or the presence of residual lesions.
As Dr. Sandra Baile explains, ‘the project aims to reduce the incidence of colorectal, duodenal, and gastric cancer, optimize endoscopic resources, and decrease the number of aggressive surgeries, prioritizing endoscopic treatment whenever it is possible and safe. This type of strategy allows us to move toward increasingly personalized medicine, tailored to the needs of each patient’.
The European Consortium on Familial Adenomatous Polyposis was created in 2019 and is currently in the prospective evaluation phase. As a result of this collaborative work, several international scientific studies have already been published.
So far, Doctor Balmis Hospital has included 23 patients with this condition in the study, a significant figure given the low prevalence of the disease, estimated at one case per 10,000–20,000 inhabitants. This has
been possible thanks to the presence of a specialized unit for high risk of digestive cancer, as well as the involvement of the other centers in the province of Alicante, which have collaborated in detecting and referring cases to Doctor Balmis Hospital.
The Gastroenterology and Hepatology Course brought together nearly one hundred specialists from across the province of Alicante to address some of the most current topics in the field, such as inflammatory bowel disease, pancreatic pathology, advances in endoscopy, digestive oncology, or the management of hepatocellular carcinoma and cirrhosis, with the participation of national and international experts.
