Dr. Francesc Balaguer

Gastroenterology

Head of the Gastroenterology Department of Hospital Clinic Barcelona and specialist of barnaclinic, Barcelona, Spain.

Spain

Biography

I am a clinical, research and academic gastroenterologist with extensive experience focused on 1) improving the clinical and molecular characterization of high-risk forms of colorectal cancer (CRC), such as Lynch syndrome and serrated polyposis syndrome; and 2) development of non-invasive biomarkers for early-diagnosis and prevention of CRC. This research has been carried out thanks to the continuous and overlapping funding as principal investigator by state public bodies since 2010 (Ministry of Health, Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII): FIS 2010, FIS 2013, FIS 2016, 2019, 2022), as well as international (NIH R01 2014, NIH R01 2015). One of my current research lines is focused on the development of dendritic cell vaccines for cancer prevention using Lynch syndrome as a model in collaboration with Dr. Manel Juan from the Hospital Clínic of Barcelona. I have published >240 articles (95 in Q1 journals), with an h index of 36 (Web of Science) and 47 (Google Scholar), 6088 total citations, and an average citations per item of 24. I am co-author of multiple national and European clinical practice guides, as well as participation in international consortia such as the Dutch-Spanish-British Serrated polyposis syndrome group (aimed at optimizing the management of patients with serrated polyposis syndrome;), the FAP consortium (aimed at improving endoscopic preventive strategies in patients with familial adenomatous polyposis (PAF)) and participation in clinical trials randomized controlled trials of the pharmaceutical industry (CPP-FAP-310 trial; N Engl J Med. 2020). I have been the coordinator of the oncology group of the Spanish Association of Gastroenterology from 2013-2016, general secretary of this association (2016-2020), and I am in the Research Committee of the United European Gastroenterology (UEG), in the Nominating Committee of the GI oncology group of the American Gastroenterology Association (AGA), and in the Research Group of the Collaborative Group of the Americas on Inherited Gastointestinal Cancer. In addition, I am the editor of the journal Gastroenterology and Hepatology (Elsevier) and scientific advisor to the Spanish Association of Families with Lynch Syndrome (AFALynch). At the healthcare level, I am the director of the High-Risk Clinic for Colorectal Cancer of the Hospital Clínic de Barcelona, and Head of the Gastroenterology Department of this Hospital.

Publications

Selected publications from PubMed

A blood-based test for detection of advanced adenomas and colorectal cancer (DENEB): a multicentre diagnostic accuracy study.

Mannucci A, Xu C, Balaguer F, Okugawa Y, Toiyama Y, Pera M, Zhang J, Bartlett DL, Zaidi AH, Therkildsen C, Cavestro GM, Bujanda L, Goel A

Lancet Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2026 Oct;11(10):897-907 doi: 10.1016/S2468-1253(26)00180-9.

Artificial intelligence-assisted detection and optical differentiation of colorectal lesions in Lynch syndrome surveillance (CADLY2): a multicentre, open-label, randomised controlled superiority trial.

Hüneburg R, van Bokhorst QNE, Pellisé M, Balaguer F, Brunori A, Rösch T, Vangala DB, Trung KV, Kandulski A, Houwen BBSL, Beaumont H, Ramsoekh D, Strassburg CP, Bisschops R, Link A, Marwitz T, Rogee J, Beekum KV, Engel C, Dekker E, Nattermann J, CADLY2 investigators

Lancet Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2026 Oct;11(10):875-886 doi: 10.1016/S2468-1253(26)00163-9.

Time to benchmark adenoma detection in Lynch syndrome surveillance.

Balaguer F, Pellisé M

Endoscopy. 2026 Aug 25 doi: 10.1055/a-2934-4134.

Colorectal Cancer Screening in Hereditary and Familial High-Risk Populations: Best Practices and Future Directions.

Gilad O, Balaguer F, Half EE, Monahan KJ, Stoffel EM, Kupfer SS

Int J Cancer. 2026 Jul 9 doi: 10.1002/ijc.70615.

Mass spectrometry-based proteomics to study gastric carcinogenesis: pathophysiological molecular characterization.

Felípez N, Montori S, Valero A, Santamaría E, Ausin K, Peral E, Llach J, Delgado P, Florez-Diez P, Barreiro E, Arruebo E, Vicente R, Soria M, Huerta A, Ortega SP, Núñez H, Díez P, Herreros A, Hontoria G, Saiz RM, Hernández L, Mangas-Sanjuan C, Patrón O, Hijos-Mallada G, Domper-Arnal MJ, Zarraquiños S, Díez-Martín AI, Gonçalves P, de Frutos D, Santiago J, García A, Martín-Lagos A, Estremera-Arévalo F, Gómez-Alonso M, Cuestas A, Balaguer F, Castellví-Bel S, Fernandez-Esparrach G, Cuatrecasas M, Moreira L, Fernández-Irigoyen J, Albéniz E, EpiGASTRIC EDGAR Consortium

Sci Rep. 2026 Jul 1;16(1) doi: 10.1038/s41598-026-45298-3.

Featured in

4 min

Winter Event “From Diagnosis to Treatment in Rectal Cancer in 2015: A Real Patient”

In the introduction, Richard Heald, a world-renowned specialist in rectal cancer surgery, highlighted, among other things, the importance of the transanal technique, the progress that it represents in low rectal cancer, and its benefits in certain cases due to specific pelvic anatomy. Steven Wexner, the Head of the Digestive Disease Center and Colorectal surgery department at the Cleveland Clinic, chaired the following presentations and debates in which a group of expert gastroenterologists and radiologists discussed the guidelines to follow for diagnosis and tumor staging, covering the following topics: The importance of colonoscopy, the distance from the tumor to the anal verge, rigid rectoscopy and controversies in endoscopic tattooing. Staging according to the MRI and USE and the comparison between them Correct assessment for neoadjuvant treatment As well as the functional explanations required before and after rectal cancer surgery. Later Antoni Castells, Head of the Clinic Institute of Digestive and Metabolic Disease (ICMDM) at the Hospital Clinic in Barcelona, examined, together with the oncologists Cristina Nadal (Hospital Clinic) and Robert Glynne-Jones (Mount Vernon Cancer Center) the various chemotherapy and preoperative radiotherapy options in rectal cancer, as well as which treatment should be selected and why, and the current trends based on the latest studies at the European and global level. Then a live surgery was performed: a Cecil approach to rectal cancer. Joep Knol (Belgium) and Patricia Sylla (United States) provided a step-by-step description of the procedure. While the surgery was being performed by Antonio Lacy and his team, the experts commented on several matters, such as technical considerations, main steps and some controversies regarding the operation. Meanwhile, they received queries from online viewers which were answered from the main set and from the operating theatre. After removing the surgical specimen, the pathologists Maria Cuatrecasas (Hospital Clinic), Mariana Berho (Cleveland Clinic) and Philip Quirke (United Kingdom) proceeded to perform the initial analysis of the specimen in the operating room, focusing on the characteristics and quality of the mesorectum. After surgery other topics of interest were discussed, such as Routine Genetic Counseling for Rectal Cancer Patients by Francesc Balaguer (Hospital Clinic), postoperative treatment based on pre-op staging vs pathological examination by Jaume Capdevila (Vall d’ Hebron) and finally the pathology audit regarding the standardisation of pathological evaluation, the surgical margin and molecular lymph node assessment. Finally Steven Wexner made some final statements and spoke about the importance of training for TaTME and its key elements. Richard Heald and Antonio Lacy then made the closing remarks, bringing the event to its end.

Published

Jan 2016

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