Physical Health Switzerland Project #23746

Support cancer research and make a difference

by Krebsforschung Schweiz / Swiss Cancer Research

Support cancer research and make a difference

Project Report | May 17, 2022
22.5 million francs for cancer research in 2021

By Alexandra Uster | Project Leader

The chance of surviving cancer is increasing year by year – that’s the good news. But it is important to remember that cancer research is highly complex and cost-intensive. This makes funding the most promising research projects and enabling further progress in the fight against cancer even more important. And this is urgently needed, because the bad news is: More and more people are affected by cancer and put a great deal of hope in receiving a suitable therapy that will alleviate or, in the best case, a cure. We are doing everything we can to ensure that hope prevails and that cures become the rule.

In the recently published Annual Report 2021 (available in German and French), we highlight funded research projects to illustrate how donations are being used to advance cancer research at a rapid pace. Six investigators describe the research questions they are pursuing and what motivates them day by day to achieve their ambitious goals.

An example is the project that aims to clarify how cancer therapies affect the quality of sleep in breast cancer patients and which therapeutic measures can be used to improve their sleep and the quality of life. Another project aims to develop new therapeutic strategies to combat metastases – which are responsible for almost 90% of deaths in cancer patients. To achieve this goal, researchers are investigating the immunology and biology of an immune cell population with high potential to eliminate cancer cells. These are just two examples out of 69 promising research projects funded in 2021. In total, the Swiss Cancer Research foundation funded 91 independent research projects, grantees, research organizations and scientific meetings with a total of 22.5 million Swiss francs in 2021.

In the future, we will continue to put all our effort into funding the most promising cancer research projects and to do everything we can to further increase the chances of survival for patients with cancer.

Thank you for your generosity and support. Every donation helps bring forward the day when all cancers are cured.

Your Swiss Cancer Research foundation

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Nov 12, 2021
A heartfelt Thank You!

By Alexandra Uster | Project Leader

Jan 25, 2018
Achieving better treatments to fight cancer

By Peggy Janich | Project Leader

Cancer immunotherapy has become a rapidly advancing field that revolutionized cancer care. Yet there a still many open questions researchers need to address to help ensure that more patients can benefit from this therapy. For example, it is still not clear, why some patients respond better to cancer immunotherapy than others, or why side effects vary and what can be done to minimize them. Please donate today to help us support cancer researchers in finding answers to these pressing questions.

Read on to learn more about two selected projects supported by Swiss Cancer Research.

Project 1: A novel family of immune cells to fight human tumors

In this project, the researchers study the role of a recently identified family of immune cells called innate lymphoid cells (ILCs) in cancer immunotherapy. The therapeutic potential of these immune cells has already been evaluated in the treatment of asthma, multiple sclerosis and other diseases. However, their potential as players in tumor progression or regression is still largely unexplored. Various ILC subsets have been shown to either favor the elimination of tumors or to promote cancer growth depending on the tumor type. In this project, the researchers will examine the potential of ILCs to recognize and kill tumor cells in urologic cancers. (Swiss Cancer Research reference number: KFS-3710-08-2015)

Project 2: Improving cancer vaccination with the help of photosensitizers and light

The goal of cancer vaccines is to stimulate the patient’s immune system to fight the tumor. However, conventional vaccines typically stimulate the arm of the immune system that is effective in fighting infections but not cancer. The immune system’s weapon to fight cancer are the so-called cytotoxic CD8 T cells. In this project, the research team mixed the vaccine with a special photochemical compound that can be activated upon illumination with defined light sources. Thus, they were able to fool the pattern of the immune system. When light was applied, the vaccine was released into immune cells that can stimulate CD8 T cells. Based on this data, a first human clinical trial was launched. (Swiss Cancer Research reference number: KFS-3451-08-2014)

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