News Archive
The Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research (LICR) is an international non-profit research institute dedicated to improving the understanding and control of cancer. Below are highlights of the Institute’s news.
December 25, 2011
NEW GENE MUTATIONS IDENTIFIED THAT ARE INVOLVED IN MELANOMA
Researchers of the University of Geneva (UNIGE), the Ludwig Center for Cancer Research of the University of Lausanne (LICR@UNIL), the Cantonal University Hospital(CHUV), and the Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics (SIB) have identified novel mutationsin the genes MEK1 and MEK2 that are involved in the development of melanoma. These findings, which open new perspectives to personalized treatments, were recently published in the journal Nature Genetics.
December 22, 2011
DNA MISMATCH REPAIR HAPPENS ONLY DURING A BRIEF WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITY
In eukaryotes - the group of organisms that include humans - a key to survival is the ability of certain proteins to quickly and accurately repair genetic errors that occur when DNA is replicated to make new cells
December 15, 2011
Ludwig Scientist Shows Molecular Markers Can Predict Spread of Cancer, Guide Treatment
Molecular markers found in cancer cells that have spread from a primary tumor to a limited number of distant sites can help physicians predict which patients with metastatic cancer will benefit from aggressive, targeted radiation therapy.
In a study to be published online Dec. 13, 2011, in the journal PloS One, researchers from the University of Chicago and the University of Illinois at Chicago show that if cells from metastatic tumors have high levels of a particular type of microRNA—a tool cells use to silence certain genes—not even aggressive treatment of those tumors would help. But if the cells have lower levels of that biological marker, then focused local treatment could be effective, even curative.
December 13, 2011
How brain tumors invade
Scientists have pinpointed a protein that allows brains tumors to invade healthy brain tissue, according to work published this week in the Journal of Experimental Medicine (http://www.jem.org).
December 08, 2011
Cancer Treatment Combination for Melanoma To Begin First-in-Human Testing
December 8, 2011 - Newton, MA; New York, NY; and Brussels, Belgium - Galectin Therapeutics, the Cancer Centre at the Cliniques universitaires Saint-Luc and the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research (LICR) announced today that they will initiate a Phase 1/2 safety and efficacy trial testing a novel treatment combination in patients with advanced metastatic melanoma. The Belgian Federal Agency of Medicine and Health Products (FAMHP) granted approval to evaluate Galectin Therapeutics’ carbohydrate-based galectin receptor inhibitor, GM-CT-01, together with an LICR peptide vaccine. The trial will enroll up to 46 patients from four clinical centers in Belgium and Luxembourg.
December 05, 2011
Ludwig Scientist Discovers Key Mechanism in DNA Repair
DNA mismatch repair (MMR) is the body’s system for recognizing and fixing mispaired bases (adenine with thymine, guanine with cytosine) that occur during genetic replication and recombination. It’s a vital process because it eliminates mutations that can result in defects and the development of different cancers.
November 30, 2011
Ricardo Brentani, former Sao Paolo Branch Director, Passed Away
Ricardo Renzo Brentani, the former Director of the Sao Paulo Branch of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research Ltd (LICR), passed away suddenly on November 29, 2011. Ricardo was born in Trieste, Italy, in July 1937 and moved to Brazil as an infant. He studied medicine and completed his Ph.D. at the University of Sao Paulo Medical School where since 1981 he was the first full professor of oncology at a Brazilian university. In 1983 Ricardo became the founding Director of the Sao Paulo Branch, a post he held until 2005.
November 29, 2011
A Tribute to Dr. Lloyd Old
Dr. Lloyd J. Old passed away yesterday at the age of 78, a casualty of the disease to which he committed his life. A close advisor to Daniel K. Ludwig, Dr. Old was the scientific mid-wife to the 1971 birth of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research (LICR). A member of its Scientific Committee throughout its formative years, Dr. Old was appointed Scientific Director and CEO of the Institute in 1988 and functioned in those capacities until he stepped down in 2005 to serve as Chairman of the Board of Directors, a position he held until 2009. He was a rare leader who cared as much about the people he worked with as the work itself. Underpinning it all was the abiding concern which he harbored for those who might benefit from his research – the victims of cancer.
November 14, 2011
Professor Ralf Petterson
Ralf Petterson, the former director of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research Ltd (LICR), Stockholm Branch, passed away on November 3, 2011, after a long battle with cancer. Born in May 1945, Ralf grew up in Helsinki. He studied medicine and completed his M.D. and Ph.D. at Helsinki University. He established independent research in the area of virology at Helsinki University and spent two years as a post-doc in David Baltimore’s lab from 1976 to 1977.
October 21, 2011
Director of LICR Oxford Branch Elected to EMBO
LICR is pleased to announce that Professor Xin Lu PhD FRCPath, Director of the Oxford Branch, has been elected as a member of the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO).
April 06, 2011
Q4 2010 Newslink
December 1, 2010
Dr. Andrew Simpson, Scientific Director, announced the appointments of Sir John Skehel and Titia de Lange to three year terms on the LICR Scientific Advisory Committee effective December 1, 2010 and January 1, 2011, respectively. Sir John and Dr. de Lange join the other members of the SAC, Drs. Lucy Shapiro, Jose Baselga, David Lane and Craig Thompson.
New Address
Effective Monday, April 18, 2011, the location and contact details of the New York office are:
666 Third Avenue 28th Floor
New York, NY 10017
Telephone: 212.450.1500
Facsimile: 212.450.1565