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Cancer

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UNIL: a world-renowned cancer research centre
Different perspectives on cancer
Research centres, institutes and groups
To find out more
Other resources


 

UNIL: a world-renowned cancer research centre

Faced with the challenge of fighting cancer, UNIL offers a unique diversity of approaches. Beyond the medical aspect, where oncologists and geneticists are at work, researchers in the humanities and social sciences are studying this theme using the tools specific to their disciplines. In this way, the work of UNIL scientists saves lives, focuses on the well-being of patients and clarifies the societal factors behind illness.

Studying the causes and effects of illness is a key part of our research.

Studying the stories of illness in a book can help a doctor to better learn how to communicate. Investigating the techniques and results of biomedical research in the light of the social sciences can help to redefine the notion of care.

From its perspective, the UNIL - CHUV oncology department combines scientific and clinical expertise to explore new therapeutic avenues at the cutting edge of world research. The Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research (a not-for-profit organisation that is a pioneer in cancer research), which has been based in Lausanne since 1971, is an integral part of this. As a result, Lausanne is home to the Swiss Cancer Centre - Arc lémanique - which brings together experts from UNIL, CHUV, HUG, UNIGE, EPFL, the ISREC Foundation and the LUDWIG Institute. This should make Lausanne a world-renowned centre for immunobiology, immunoengineering and immunotherapy.

Different perspectives on cancer

In this video, three scientists from different disciplines discuss and explore cancer research from their distinct but complementary perspectives: prof. George Coukos, world specialist in immunotherapy, Dr Nils Graber, senior SNSF researcher specialising in the social sciences of oncology and Dr Adrien Guignard, researcher at the Institute of Humanities in Medicine (IHM), which analyses the history of medicine and public health, specialist in stories of illness and the interaction between literature and medicine.

Research centres, institutes and groups

To find out more

  • Interview with biologist Johanna Joyce (L'uniscope 639, November 2018, p. 6-7)

    At the end of 2018, Johanna Joyce, a professor in the Department of Oncology, received the Cloëtta Prize, an award for individuals of particular merit in the medical sciences. Having arrived in Lausanne in 2016, the researcher is interested in the relationship between cancer cells and healthy cells in their microenvironment, particularly in the brain.

  • Discovery of a new cancer-fighting lymphocyte (RTS info, 3 March 2021)

    A team from the Swiss Cancer Center Léman, which brings together the Universities of Lausanne and Geneva, the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, the CHUV and the EPFL, has discovered a new lymphocyte that uses nanotechnology to kill cancer cells. This opens up new prospects for patients resistant to conventional therapies.

  • The patient at the heart of cancer treatment (Allez savoir! 66, May 2017, p. 50-53<)

    Helping a patient's immune system to fight tumour cells more effectively is the aim of immunotherapy, the focus of much attention in the fight against cancer. Solange Peters, Professor in the Faculty of Biology and Medicine at UNIL and Head of Medical Oncology at CHUV, explains.

  • Interview with George Coukos (RTS, 19h30, 4 February 2021)

    Director of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research Lausanne and Head of the Department of Oncology at UNIL-CHUV, Professor George Coukos was invited by RTS in February 2021 to talk about immunotherapy, one of the great hopes for the treatment of cancer, with an approach focused in particular on personalised medicine.

  • Immunotherapy at the heart of the fight against cancer (Allez savoir! 58, September 2014, p.16-20)

    Thanks to the creation of dedicated infrastructures and the mobilisation of specific skills, Lausanne has established itself as a centre of excellence in the field of cancer research. This is particularly true of immunotherapy, which aims to mobilise the immune system to help fight tumour cells.

  • A prize for Solange Peters (UNIL News, 30 July 2019)

    Professor at the Faculty of Biology and Medicine at UNIL and Head of Medical Oncology at CHUV, Solange Peters was awarded the Bonnie J. Addario Prize. It rewards her commitment to the fight against lung cancer and her work on biomarkers, improving access to care and promoting the advancement of women in oncology.

  • Hospitals join forces in the fight against cancer (24 heures, 29 July 2019)

    Under the leadership of the Swiss Cancer Clinical Research Group, Swiss hospitals are joining forces to develop their own cell-based therapies. The aim is to offer treatments to patients who do not benefit from them, at lower costs than those offered by pharmaceutical companies. George Coukos explains.

  • Launch of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research in Lausanne (L'uniscope 606, September 2015, p.12-13)

    In 2015, Dominique Arlettaz, Rector of UNIL from 2006 to 2016, announced the creation of a UNIL-CHUV branch of Ludwig Cancer Research in Lausanne, funded by the American foundation. Specialising in immunology, the Lausanne branch aims to develop technologies that will enable new therapies to be used effectively on as many patients as possible.

Other resources