On a local level, the main protagonists of biomedical cancer research are :

- the Swiss institute for experimental cancer research – EPFL, School of Life Sciences

- the NCCR (National Center of Competence in Research) in molecular oncology.  The explicit goal of this program, in which ISREC is the leading house, is to build new paths from basic to clinical research and to permit the extension of results of fundamental research into therapeutic strategies.

- the Cancer Center, Lausanne

- the Multidisciplinary Oncology Center (CePO)

- the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research (LICR) – Lausanne branch

- the Department of Biochemistry of the University of Lausanne

- the Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics

From basic research to therapeutic approaches

Thanks to the increasing cooperation between these institutions and the groups in university hospitals of Lausanne and Geneva, the challenge of closing the gap between basic and clinically oriented cancer research has started.