The Urology Service of the Hospital Clínic de Barcelona leads various clinical and basic research activities.

Clinical research

The Urology Service is involved in numerous clinical trials and applied clinical research. It conducts research with numerous Phase II and III clinical trials in collaboration with the pharmaceutical industry. In addition, it has specific areas in clinical research in the fields of oncology and kidney transplantation and has a well-established group of animal experimentation on pigs in the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences (Stable and Animal Experimentation Area) of the University of Barcelona.

Basic research

The Service has its own Molecular Biology laboratory located in the Cellex Building of the August Pi Sunyer Institute for Biomedical Research (IDIBAPS), in the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Barcelona.

The research carried out at IDIBAPS is carried out in the group of:

The main lines of research are:

• Non-invasive diagnostic and prognostic tools for bladder tumors:  This line of research consists of the identification of biomarkers in urine samples. Gene and miRNA expression profiles are studied, as well as methylation profiles in urine cells of patients with bladder cancer. In addition, aneuploidies are analyzed in the urine cells of patients with bladder cancer.
• Non-invasive diagnostic and prognostic tools for prostate tumors: A gene expression signature has been developed in post-prostate urine samples. Work is currently underway to identify miRNA expression signatures on the same sample type. Finally, the prognostic biomarkers of aggressive prostate cancer are also investigated.
• Predictive biomarkers of prognosis and response to treatments in bladder and upper urinary tract tumors: Biomarkers of bladder tumor dissemination have been identified by lymph node analysis and peripheral blood samples from bladder cancer patients. Work is currently underway to determine these dissemination biomarkers using a non-invasive sample: free cell DNA and circulating tumor cells (liquid biopsy). Work is also underway to identify prognostic biomarkers in bladder tumors and the upper urinary tract. In addition, biomarkers of response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy in patients with bladder cancer are being investigated.
• Prognostic biomarkers of renal cell carcinoma: This is the most recent line of research. Work is underway to identify prognostic gene expression profiles in clear renal cell carcinoma.