Vision
The cancer institute (CI) at the National Center for Cancer Care and Research (NCCCR) aims to develop an internationally competitive and comprehensive cancer center which provides cancer patients with new and advanced treatment options within clinical research trials. The institute has developed its basic and translational cancer research program to advance the understanding of cancer biology and establishing translational research programs which take clinical observations and specimens from the patient’s bedside to the laboratory bench and eventually back to the patient.
The paramount vision of the CI is centered around advancing cancer research, care, and treatment to improve clinical outcome for patients, as well as contributing to the global fight against cancer through united innovative scientific and clinical expertise as well as national and international collaborations.
Mission
The mission of the CI is to establish a multidisciplinary and highly competitive translational research program in the realm of cancer research.
The CI integrates several clinical expertise and scientific disciplines in the fields of cancer immunology and immunotherapy, cancer vaccine development, cancer immuno-monitoring/immuno-score, stem cells biology, cellular therapies/adoptive effector cell transfer, cancer genomics and biomarkers identification, and molecular diagnosis with the ultimate objective of developing preventive and therapeutic strategies to improve cancer prognosis and therapy.
Research projects
Several research projects, clinical trials and immuno-monitoring assays have been initiated in the following topics:
- Pre-clinical evaluation of anti-viral specific T-cells to be used as adaptive T-cell Therapy in patients receiving hematopoietic stem cells transplantation.
- Pre-clinical evaluation of anti-leukemic effect of selectively expanded NK
- Pre-clinical evaluation of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) transduced T-cells and NK cells for Adoptive Cellular Therapy.
- Identification of circulating biomarkers in the blood/plasma of cancer
- Characterization of the expression of immune cells inhibitory markers such as the programmed death protein-1 (PD-1) and its ligand PD-L1 and of tumor associated antigens, particularly the NY-ESO-1 cancer testis antigen, aiming at more accurate molecular diagnosis of tumor to provide prognostic indicators and shape precision medicine therapeutic strategies.
- Evaluation of the effect of chemotherapy/radiotherapy on the expression of immune checkpoints (g. PD1/PD-L1) and CTAs (e.g. NY-ESO-1) with the ultimate objective of suggesting combination therapies between standard cancer treatments and immunotherapeutic tools.
- The integration of “omics” approaches such as proteomics and transcriptomics to help in the comprehension of the biological mechanisms associated with response/resistance to cancer treatment This program aims to establish precision medicine for cancer patients and lays the framework for research integration into clinical practice in HMC.
- Establishment of a biobank of the thyroid and breast cancer tissues in collaboration with Qatar Biobank to enable cutting-edge research in Qatar in the future.
Research areas
The NCCCR provides several services including Medical Oncology, Radiation Oncology, Hematology and Hemopoietic Stem Cell Therapy. The NCCCR is also hosting PET CT, Nuclear Medicine, Interventional Radiology and Cancer Genetics Services.
Contact Us:
cancerinstitute@hamad.qa