In our new podcast, Combat Innovators Episode 7, Guy Cooper has a chat with Assistant Professor Dr. Juan José Segura Sampedro MBE.
“Targeted therapy, the tailored approach, isn’t the future, it’s now”
Dr Segura Sampedro discusses new drug delivery methods in peritoneal surgery, the role of regulatory and the balance between risk and innovation, and how drunken English tourists lead to him being awarded an MBE…
Dr. Segura Sampedro is not only a surgical oncologist, but also has a great interest in research (including HIPEC) and innovation. He is based at Son Espases University Hospital in Mallorca.
We chatted in a café in the beautiful city of Córdoba, Spain, where Dr. Sampedro was busy attending the SEOQ / GECOP meetings. This was the 8th National Congress of SEOQ (the Spanish Society of Surgical Oncology, and the 10th International Meeting of the Spanish Group of Peritoneal Oncological Surgery (GECOP).
We spoke about many things, from cancer drugs and delivery, small animal experiments and trauma surgery, (which he is also well known for), to unruly British tourists and the surprise of receiving an MBE.
Spain is a very appropriate place for holding such a conference. The attitudes are different to those in the UK. For example, it is not such a “conservative” (for want of a better word) country when it comes to cancer treatment; they are far more open to trying different forms of therapy than we in the UK are. HIPEC (Hyperthermic Intraperitoneal chemotherapy) has been a mainstay in cancer treatment in Spain for many years, along with many other augmentative treatments.
Juan José Segura Sampedro has been working in surgical oncology since 2015, and since then, he has seen the growth and development of HIPEC as a treatment. We also spoke about the superiority of Combat’s HIPEC over others.
Dr. Sampedro is all about innovation. His research includes a hydrogel which releases chemotherapy slowly over a long period of time. This is especially useful when releasing it peritoneally, as systemic chemotherapy is not as effective with peritoneal metastasis.
We spoke about the frustration with regulation and the mismatch between the pace of this and the desired pace of innovation and progress. Regulations are of course a necessity, but sometimes one wonders if we have gone too far.
So, hypothetically, what would he do with a billion pounds (or euros) of research funds? One of his many interests treatment-wise is in the use of Hydrogels, along with other forms of controlled release drug delivery, and also investigation into the use of different drugs like those used in HIPEC.
Unfortunately, there is just not enough money available for all the clinical trials necessary to try all the different drugs and delivery systems. This lack of funding is tragically slowing down much-needed advances in cancer treatment.
