Portuguese Institute of Oncology of Porto Francisco Gentil

The Portuguese Institute of Oncology of Porto Francisco Gentil, E.P.E. (IPO Porto) is a Portuguese institution specialized in cancer treatment, carrying out a triple mission: patient care, education, and research in Oncology.

IPO Porto is accredited by the Organisation of European Cancer Institutes (OECI) with the designation of Comprehensive Cancer Center in collaboration with the Institute for Research and Innovation in Health (i3S) - Porto Comprehensive Cancer Center, P.CCC.

IPO Porto is organized into areas of specialization and consists of 11 clinics and 26 services offering personalized and tailored treatments for patients and their families, ensuring that all treatment stages are followed clearly and conscientiously. The Research Center at IPO Porto (CI-IPOP) is tasked with coordinating and implementing the institution's research activities and has been formally recognized by the Portuguese Science Foundation (FCT) as an R&D unit since 2004, achieving an "Excellent" rating in the latest international evaluation.

CI-IPOP is structured into research groups and a Clinical Research Unit (CRU), with its primary long-term goal being the understanding of the pathobiological mechanisms of carcinogenesis, which will help improve cancer prevention and/or treatment. The CRU at IPO Porto was established in 2006 with the aim of facilitating the implementation of clinical trials, promoting clinical trials as a part of routine clinical practice, and raising awareness of clinical trials as relevant tools for improving patient access to new treatments. The IPO Porto CRU is responsible for the implementation of clinical trials and studies conducted at IPO Porto, as well as clinical trial management.

In 2019, the Early Phase Clinical Trials Unit (UEFP) was formally created with three main objectives: to promote patient access to innovation through clinical research, to implement and develop a molecular characterization program to expand opportunities for biomarker-driven clinical trials, and to foster scientific collaboration with academic/non-commercial partners, biotechnology companies, and pharmaceutical companies, focusing on translational research and the development of new treatments. The UEFP has a dedicated medical team, clinical trial coordinators, and nurses. The UEFP represents a significant innovation in the approach to oncological clinical trials and, despite its recent establishment, already has experience in various types of clinical trials: first-in-human trials, basket trials, early-phase biomarker-driven trials, platform trials, molecular characterization/genomic profiling programs, academic trials, and investigator-initiated trials.

• Comprehensive Cancer Center (OECI)
• 10,000 new patients per year;
• Clinical Research Unit since 2006;
• Early Phase Clinical Trials Unit since 2019;
• Precision Oncology Program.