Research theme Women's cancers

Women's cancers About theme

The Women’s cancers research theme is dedicated to the study of malignancies that specifically occur in women, like breast, ovarian, fallopian tube, endometrial, cervical, vaginal, and vulvar cancer, as well as trophoblastic malignancies. Our goal is to improve patient-centered quality of care in partnership with patients and their relatives. We aim to improve all stages of the broad spectrum of care: prevention, early diagnosis, treatment and post-treatment follow-up, survivorship and palliative care.

Concepts of personalized prevention and early detection are being explored in the context of the population-based screening programs for breast and cervical cancer. A better understanding of carcinogenesis and tumor development, with special attention to hereditary causes and preservation of fertility, is being gained, which results in the development of better management strategies. Findings from basic research are being translated into clinical applications on a diagnostic and treatment level within the general concept of personalized healthcare. New imaging technologies are being developed to further support these patient-specific care approaches. The Women’s cancers research theme has a special interest in the development of personalized screening, artificial intelligence in pathology diagnostics and new surgical techniques to improve the management of the various cancer types. Special attention is paid to quality of care and implementation research such as the development of European Breast Guidelines and a European Quality Assurance Scheme for breast cancer services.

Objectives

• We will study the oncogenesis of the various women’s cancers.
• We will improve screening strategies for the national screening program for breast and cervical cancer.
• We will optimize treatment strategies for women’s cancers.
• We will optimize diagnostic tools and introduce new tools for the detection of women’s cancers.
• We will develop and improve management strategies for hereditary cancers.
• We will introduce new immunotherapeutic treatment modalities in ovarian cancer.
• We will develop new fertility-sparing techniques to support the management of various malignancies.
• We will study patients’ distress levels and develop management strategies to improve quality of life.