Presentation of the Centre
Humanitas Cancer Center is a specialist centre for cancer research and therapy which operates within the Istituto Clinico Humanitas.
A highly professional and experienced interdisciplinary team, personalised therapies, services for the patients such as home care and psychological support, cutting-edge technologies and constant attention to the international guidelines is what makes Humanitas Cancer Center one of the most advanced cancer care facilities in southern Europe.
Main Research Activities
Clinical Research ranges from the generation of new surgical approaches to the development of novel radiotherapy techniques; clinical trials in medical oncology range from early phase I to phase III studies. The Hematology and Bone Marrow Unit conducts translational research as well as clinical trials with novel drugs and immunologically-driven approaches. A Cancer-free Platform has been developed based on an innovative approach for the follow-up of patients that are disease-free since at least 3 years.
Translational Research is focused on two main issues: (i) identification of biomarkers for the detection of predictors of treatment response, both for targeted therapy and immunotherapy; (ii) use of high-throughput approaches for studying the genome, epigenome and transcriptome to investigate the biological and molecular mechanisms underlying cancer chemo-refractoriness.
The current research activity is based on 8 main research lines:
- Cancer prevention and Genetic counselling
- Translational research with a special focus on genomic analysis of chemo-refractory cancers
- Precision medicine with a special focus on genomic tools for disease outcome prediction and monitoring
- Phase 1 studies
- Immunotherapy
- Cancer-free program
- Impact of polypharmacy on the management of elderly cancer patients
- Rare tumors
Core Facilities
Humanitas Cancer Center gathers highly specialised experts in oncology. The Outpatient Clinic is able to cater to all the patients’ needs – be they cardiologic, rehabilitative or emergency-related – and is organised so as to guarantee support to relatives and continuous care – even after discharge – through home-hospitalisation and cooperation with local hospices. In addition, special attention is given to cancer survivors.
Education
Humanitas Cancer Center - part of the brand-new University Hunimed which has Degree courses in Medicine, Nursing and Physiotherapy - is authorised by the Ministry of Health as a centre of specialisation for physicians and regularly welcomes small groups of trainees in several different disciplines.