Today, September 24, World Cancer Research Day is celebrated, an initiative born in 2016 with the support of the Spanish Association Against Cancer. And its honorary president, Queen Letizia, has delivered a powerful and decisive message, highlighting the importance that research into this disease be universally accessible and calling for sustainable investment to achieve meaningful advances.
She did so from Brussels, at the headquarters of the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer, on the occasion of the central event of World Cancer Research Day 2026. Queen Letizia was accompanied at this event by Princess Dina Mired of Jordan. Honorary president of this institution, this economist has become a prominent global activist in the fight against cancer.
In impeccable English, the wife of Felipe VI began by thanking the EORTC “for hosting us here in Brussels and for inviting me to participate in this celebration, which this year takes on special meaning as it marks ten years since its inception.” And she highlighted the importance of this forum in bringing research to the center of public attention at a time when many still considered it something confined to laboratories and distant from everyday life.
Queen Letizia also highlighted the advances achieved in cancer research, that are no longer a future promise, but “save more and more lives.” And in order to continue making progress, she noted that such research “must be stable, have investment, involve public-private collaboration and be universally accessible.”
Queen Letizia and Marie Curie’s Words
The queen stressed that today “we are more aware than ever that prevention and early detection are among the most effective tools we have against cancer.” But she did not sugarcoat acknowledging that this disease “advances and continues to discriminate,” it does not matter where we are from or in what situation we live.
Queen Letizia at the Brussels event.
She also insisted that it is essential that “scientific progress and social equity go hand in hand.” And she subsequently wanted to place special emphasis on childhood cancer, “which requires special attention not only because it is considered a low-prevalence disease,” but because of the impact it has on lives that are just beginning.
To close her intervention, she wished to emphasize with optimism that today “we understand cancer much better than ever.” And she cited as an example a famous remark by Marie Curie, the first woman to win a Nobel Prize: “The more we understand it, the less we should fear it.” But, above all – and I am the one who emphasizes this point – we must strive harder to prevent cancer.
In Constant Defense of Health
Beyond having been involved in the fight against cancer for more than fifteen years, Queen Letizia has made physical and mental health one of her top priorities. In addition to being the honorary president of the Spanish Association Against Cancer and of the Spanish Federation of Rare Diseases, her institutional agenda also includes constant support for other key entities.
There are numerous organizations she supports. We have seen her participate on several occasions in events organized by UNICEF Spain, which works in more than 190 countries and territories to save the lives of boys and girls and defend their rights. She is also fully involved in the actions carried out by the Spanish Red Cross and regularly meets with representatives of the Confederation of Mental Health Spain.
