Cancer Research in Switzerland - Krebsliga Schweiz

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slides in two different concentrations. After incubation of
samples, bound antibodies were detected via a fluorescence
signal. Data were preprocessed and statistically analyzed.
Using this array technology, we were able to identify a
panel of blood antibodies with different levels in healthy
controls compared to SOC. Two antibodies had an identical
core structure, which had significantly lower antibody
levels in patients with SOC. The combination of five antibodies
reached significance for the detection of SOC with
an excellent discrimination capability.
Our data indicate that using printed glycan array technology
we are able to recognize the transformation of a cancer
via its abnormal carbohydrate binding, hereby measuring
an individual person’s immune response. With this
technology we are able to define an individual profile
for patients with SOC. Further experiments are ongoing
to validate these results in a double-blind manner for a
bigger independent patient cohort.
Project coordinator
Dr. Viola Heinzelmann-Schwarz
Translational Research Group
Klinik für Gynäkologie
Medizinbereich Frau-Kind
UniversitätsSpital Zürich
Frauenklinikstrasse 10
CH-8091 Zürich
Phone +41 (0)44 255 5374
Fax +41 (0)44 255 4553
viola.heinzelmann@usz.ch
Herrmann Richard | The SAKK Initiative for regional
hospitals (KLS 02067-04-2007)
The SAKK initiative for regional hospitals aimed to provide
strategic, operational and financial support to middlesized
regional hospitals to give patients with cancer living
in peripheral areas the opportunity to be treated within a
clinical trial.
The Swiss Group for Clinical Cancer Research (SAKK) has
conducted clinical trials in oncology since 1965. Today,
thanks to medical progress in general and clinical research
in particular, many cancer types are detected at early
stages and will be successfully cured. Hence, the number
of patients with cancer requiring therapeutic intervention
has increased rapidly. As a consequence, most hospitals
have expanded their infrastructure and personnel qualifications
to ensure adequate treatment of patients with
cancer. But not all hospitals offer clinical trials, since clinical
research is very expensive and increasing administrative
and regulatory requirements impede the conduct of
clinical trials. In Switzerland research-related structures in
the clinical setting exist mainly at the university hospitals
and the larger cantonal hospitals, whereas regional hospitals
are mostly oriented towards service provision and not
research. In general, patients with early stage cancer are
treated at regional hospitals, whereas patients with an ad-
vanced stage or rare disease that requires intensive treatment
are commonly treated at a university hospital or large
cantonal hospital, where the patients also have access to
clinical trials. The risk of this practice is that clinical trial results
may not present a real-world view of how these treatments
and drugs actually work in patients’ populations.
Regional hospitals can offer a much more realistic picture
of the efficacy and safety of a treatment or drug. This potential
bias might be reduced by offering patients the possibility
to access clinical trials at their regional hospitals.
To enforce clinical cancer research at regional hospitals,
SAKK initiated the “middle-sized hospitals” project. Eight
hospitals met the requirements of the initiative (Spitalzentrum
Biel, Hôpital fribourgeois, Kantonsspital Graubünden,
Klinik Hirslanden Zürich, Kantonsspital Luzern, Stadtspital
Triemli, Centre hospitalier du centre du Valais, Kantonsspital
Winterthur) and received strategic, operational and financial
support to set-up the required structures to perform
clinical cancer research. The hospitals invested grant
money to hire a data manager who supports the medical
staff in all administrative and coordinative aspects of a
clinical trial.
The funded hospitals all started to participate in SAKK
trials shortly after project start, and their activities have
increased markedly over the last three years. In 2010 the
eight hospitals recruited 242 patients into clinical trials
coordinated by SAKK out of a total of 787 patients.
Clinical cancer research performed by SAKK cares about
the interest of the patients and addresses research questions
related to practical work. In addition, cancer treatment
within a clinical trial complies with medical treatment
guidelines and is a quality measurement. As a direct
result of the SAKK initiative, more cancer patients have
access to clinical trials and thereby to treatment of a high
quality standard. Importantly, patients have the possibility
to stay at their regional hospitals, where they are
treated by their local oncologists and remain within their
social environments.
Project coordinator
Prof. Dr. Richard Herrmann, Basel
Correspondence:
Annik Steiner
Head Partner Relations
SAKK-Koordinationszentrum
Effingerstrasse 40
CH-3008 Bern
Phone +41 (0)31 389 93 96
Fax +41 (0)31 389 92 00
annik.steiner@sakk.ch