Center of Experimental Therapeutics - CTE

History

In line with the National Cancer Strategy 2014-17 (Swiss Federal Office of Public Health), the Lausanne University Hospital set the development of its cancer care offer as one of its top priorities. The specific objective of supporting the advancement of innovative therapies was central to this.

From bench to bedside

Translational research facilitates the transition of a discovery from the laboratory and clinical trials to the patient's bedside. It works to transform scientific discoveries into medical treatments. By its very nature, it ensures constant dialogue and collaboration between scientists and clinicians.

The Department of oncology UNIL CHUV places great emphasis on its clinical-translational research to effectively push the boundaries of therapies currently available to patients. In 2014, it created the Center of Experimental Therapeutics (CTE). The Center is a hospital-based research platform that supports patient-oriented research from bench to bedside, including the submission and regulatory approval of clinical trials, the conduct of clinical trials, and the entire cellular manufacturing process. Its GMP Cellular Manufacturing Facility is currently the largest academic manufacturing facility for the manufacture of T cells in continental Europe, with 750 m2 of production facilities. The CTE constitutes the permanent interface between the department's fundamental and clinical cancer research. It is central to the evolution of therapies offered to cancer patients treated at the CHUV.

The CTE's focus is on ensuring the most efficient transition of new treatments and care techniques from the laboratory to the patient. The aim is to offer more effective care programmes, with fewer side effects and more targeted treatment. This implies an increasingly personalised approach. 

The benefits to the patient of participating in a clinical trial include:

• Access to certain drugs and/or techniques not yet commonly available
• More individualised treatment, targeting the specific characteristics of the patient's tumour
• When standard treatment has not delivered the expected results, the possibility to extend the treatment.

Our clinical trials currently open

The Center of Experimental Therapeutics team is made up of numerous clinicians and researchers. 

Meet the CTE management team

The clinical trials selected by the Department of oncology:

• demonstrate a potential benefit and an improvement to the patient's quality of life that outweigh the possible risks
• have obtained a positive evaluation of the scientific committee of the Department of Oncology UNIL-CHUV
• have received prior approval from the Swiss Agency for Therapeutic Products Swissmedic and the cantonal ethics commission
• are conducted according to a research protocol, in compliance with Good Clinical Practice (GCP/GCP) and Good Laboratory Practice (GLP/GCLP).

Each patient who wishes to participate in a clinical trial is informed and advised by a specialist reference oncologist and is accompanied throughout the consent process.