When researchers join forces in the fight against cancer

The five stories of the Agora building allow for the meeting of specialties and the fusion of ideas © SCCL Since 2016, the Swiss Cancer Center Léman provides a space for scientists and clinicians from across the Lake Geneva region to pool their efforts, share insights and work together on innovative cancer treatments. The center, which has just renewed its leadership team, brings together the Universities of Geneva and Lausanne, the EPFL, and the two hospitals, CHUV and HUG. It's often said that scientists and doctors are "waging war" against cancer. This kind of bellicose talk often frames discussions around a disease that affects more than 40,000 people and claims close to 17,000 lives in Switzerland each year. Mortality rates have fallen significantly over the past three decades, suggesting that battles are being won. But cancer, in its various forms, is still one of the leading causes of death globally. In 2021, Pierre-Yves Dietrich, the retired former head of oncology at Geneva University Hospitals (HUG), warned that winning the war against cancer would require a "collective effort" from experts in every branch of medicine and life science: "Tackling cancer is an enormous challenge requiring skills and expertise that surpass the sometimes rigid confines of disciplines, facilities, institutes and cantons." The need for a novel approach was one reason behind the opening of the Swiss Cancer Center Léman (SCCL) .