Instituto Português de Oncologia do Porto Francisco Gentil, E.P.E. (IPO Porto) is a specialized Portuguese cancer institution, with a triple role: patient care, teaching and research in Oncology.
IPO Porto is a member of the Organization of European Cancer Institutes (OECI) and is accredited by OECI as a Comprehensive Cancer Center (Porto Comprehensive Cancer Center, P.CCC) in collaboration with Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde (i3S).
Divided by areas of specialization, IPO Porto has 11 clinics and 26 departments that provide personalized and close-to-measure treatment for patients and their families, so that all steps of the treatment are followed in a clear and conscientious way.
IPO Porto’s Research Center (CI-IPOP) has the mission to coordinate and implement the research activity of IPO Porto and is formally recognized by the Portuguese Science Foundation (FCT) as an R&D unit since 2004, from which it obtained the classification of Excellent in the last international evaluation.
CI-IPOP is organized in research groups and a Clinical Research Unit (CRU). The general and long-term objective of CI-IPOP is the understanding of the pathobiological mechanisms of carcinogenesis, which ultimately will help improve cancer prevention and/or treatment.
IPO Porto’s CRU was established in 2006, with the aim to facilitate clinical trial deployment, to promote clinical trials as part of routine clinical practice and to increase awareness of clinical trials as relevant tools for patient care access to new treatments. IPO Port’s CRU is responsible for the implementation of clinical trials and clinical studies conducted at IPO Porto and for the management of clinical trials.
In 2019, an Early Phase Clinical Trials Unit (UEFP) – Unidade de Ensaios Clínicos de Fase Precoce) was formally established as part of IPO Port’s CRU, with three main objectives: to promote patients access to innovation through clinical research, to implement and develop a molecular screening program to expand the opportunities of biomarker driven clinical trial access and, to promote scientific collaboration with academic/non-commercial partners, biotech and pharma companies, focusing on translational research and early drug development. The UEFP counts with a dedicated medical team, study coordinators, and nurses. The UEFP represents a significant innovation in the approach to oncological clinical trials. Despite UEFP recent inception, it has already experience in several types of clinical trials: first-in-human, early phase basket/biomarker driven trials, platform trials, molecular screening program/genomic profiling, collaborative and academic trials, investigator initiated clinical trials.
- Comprehensive Cancer Center (OECI);
- 10.000 new patients per year;
- Clinical Research Unit since 2006;
- Early Phase Clinical Trials Unit since 2019;
- Own Molecular Screening Program.