In Latin American and Caribbean countries, childhood leukemias are particularly common and, more seriously, the percentage of children who survive the disease is much lower, around 50-80% depending on the type of leukemia and country, compared to 80-95% in Europe. This significant difference may be due to many factors that go beyond the differences in the biology of leukemia, such as the population's difficulty in accessing healthcare, the lack of resources for diagnosis, or the lack of research.

The European Commission is funding through the Horizon2020 program the CLOSER project (GA 825749), "Childhood Leukaemia: Overcoming distance between South America and European Regions", to address these gaps through the exchange of good practice and collaboration between Europe and Latin America and The Caribbean. The CLOSER project, which is led by Dr. Mireia Camós of the Hospital Sant Joan de Déu of Barcelona and has the participation of Pablo Menéndez's group from the Josep Carreras Research Institute along with 12 other partners, was born with the aim to study and generate guidelines and recommendations that will alleviate these differences and improve the diagnosis and prognosis of patients with childhood leukemia in Latin America.

During five years, experts from all over Europe from Austria, Italy, the United Kingdom, the Czech Republic, and Spain will work with researchers from Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay to promote a large epidemiological study that will provide more precise knowledge of the subtypes of leukemia diagnosed in Latin America. This information is key to applying treatments adapted to the risk of each patient, thus improving their prognosis and minimizing side effects. To this end, rare diseases patient data processing platforms such as Share4Rare will participate in the study.

The project also plans to promote initiatives to simplify current diagnosticprocesses and reduce their cost by facilitating their application to healthcare centers in countries with fewer resources. The CLOSER project also includes a training program to empower professionals in the best available diagnostic technologies and gives priority to the empowerment of patients through their involvement in the project, knowing their real needs beyond health care, such as the educational and psychosocial needs of both patients and their families.

The research team will include professionals from different hospitals, laboratories, universities, research centers, patient foundations, health policy representatives, companies, and civil society representatives. Thus, the CLOSER project addresses the problem of childhood leukemia in an innovative and comprehensive way, considering not only the scientific aspects but also the economic, cultural, social, educational and environmental issues of Latin American and European countries, with the ultimate goal of improving the survival and quality of life of children with leukemia and their caregivers.

The participating centers are the Sant Joan de Déu Hospital and Foundation, the Josep Carreras Leukaemia Research Institute Foundation, Asserta Global Healthcare Solutions and Candela Bracelets in Barcelona; the SAMIC Paediatric Hospital Dr. Juan P. Garrahan, the Natali Dafne Flexer Foundation, and the Maria Cecilia Foundation for Aid to Oncological Children in Buenos Aires; St. Anna Kinderkrebsforschung in Vienna, the Roberto del Rio Children's Hospital in Santiago de Chile, the Karlova University in Prague, the Pérez Scremini Foundation in Montevideo, the University Upon Tyne in Newcastle, and the Higher Institute of Health in Rome.

Image: Meeting of the representatives of the centers.