ISREC has been contributing now for 40 years to the progress in understanding the complex processes of cancer development. The advances in cancer research are beginning to engender new mechanism-based therapies, and suggest that the goal of customized combination therapies that effectively target several of the hallmark tumor anomalies may be within reach. With these developments the need to translate basic research into therapeutic strategies has become even more urgent. To respond to this challenge, ISREC is supported through a new program launched by the Swiss National Science Foundation. Within its framework ISREC is the leading house of a National Center of Competence in Research (NCCR) in the field of molecular oncology. It is the explicit goal of this NCCR to build new paths from basic to clinical cancer research.

Research foci

The concept of ISREC's research programs is to bring together groups that address closely related questions from different angles, ranging from basic cell and developmental biology to molecular pathology. Research at ISREC focuses on three major areas highly relevant to tumor biology: cell proliferation, genome stability and cell differentiation. The first of these foci investigates the mechanisms that control cell proliferation in normal cells and are altered during tumorigenesis, the second one explores the ways in which tumor cells become genetically unstable and therefore prone to evolve to more malignant daughter cells. The third scientific focus, cell differentiation and its aberrant regulation in tumors, is building mostly on junior investigators who were recruited over the past few years and explore cell fate commitment, cellular differentiation, tissue induction and organogenesis, and are using a variety of model systems, ranging from C. elegans to mouse tumor models.

From basic research to therapeutic approaches

Investigating links to disease has become an integral part of exploring gene function, and the task of extending early exploratory research towards experimental validation of disease relatedness and demonstration of clinical relevance falls within the scope of ISREC's mission. The development of more relevant tumor models, the establishment, for example, of technologies to engineer and use primary human tumor cells rather than cell lines as models, will largely depend upon cooperative networks, which provide access to tumor samples and related clinical data, as well as expertise in areas including tissue engineering, animal experimentation, advanced imaging, biostatistics and biocomputing. The NCCR Molecular Oncology program, which is funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation, provides our institute with specific resources to launch projects which depend upon such cooperation. A new research focus is emerging, clustering groups within and beyond ISREC, which have overlapping interests in investigating the interface between host and tumor tissue, notably mechanisms of cell invasion, cell differentiation and host responses such as angiogenesis and immune reactions. Thus, the NCCR has opened up new opportunities for collaborations with clinical research groups, in particular with Experimental Pathology at the Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV). ISREC's contribution to tumor immunotherapy, pursued in collaboration with the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, the Multidisciplinary Oncology Center (CePO), and the Department of Biochemistry, has been reinforced, and the cooperation with the Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics has provided the basis for the establishment of a centralized facility that serves the entire Lausanne research community.

Outlook

Thanks to its increasing cooperation not only with the institutions in the research center in Epalinges but also with groups in university hospitals, ISREC is prepared to face the challenge of closing the gap between basic and clinically oriented cancer research. The outcome of this exciting phase of ISREC's development will depend on the attractiveness of its research environment. It is planned to incorporate ISREC as a largely independent institute into the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL). This move should generate new interfaces and manifold synergies with mathematics, physics, chemistry and engineering sciences and further strengthen ISREC's capacity to recruit outstanding young investigators, clearly the most critical measure for ISREC's success.

Michel Aguet, Director                                                                                                                August 2004