Karolinska Institutet is investing in a new centre for immuno-oncology at the Department of Microbiology, Tumour and Cell Biology, MTC. The aim is to create an internationally leading research environment where knowledge of the immune system can be translated into new treatments for both solid tumours and blood cancers. The centre will be led by Karl-Johan Malmberg, a specialist in haematology and newly appointed professor of immuno-oncology at Karolinska Institutet. He will take up his professo
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Immunotherapy has, in a relatively short time, transformed the possibilities for treating cancer. By activating or directing the body’s own immune system, it is now possible to treat certain cancers in ways that were not previously possible. But these successes are far from benefiting all patients.
– Most patients with common solid tumours still have limited or no lasting benefit from today’s treatments. We therefore need to understand how tumours evade recognition by the immune system and develop new ways to direct immune cells against cancer, says Karl-Johan Malmberg .
He believes the time is right for a new experimental and translational research initiative in immuno-oncology at KI.
– The opportunities to make fundamental discoveries are greater than ever, and the technologies for studying and modifying the immune system have never been more powerful.
Back to MTC after 30 years
Karl-Johan Malmberg is a professor and specialist in haematology, and his research focuses primarily on how the immune system, particularly so-called NK cells, can be used to treat cancer. NK cells, natural killer cells, are part of the body’s innate immune system and can recognise and attack cancer cells, among others.
For the past 15 years, Karl-Johan Malmberg has worked at the University of Oslo and Oslo University Hospital, most recently as head of PRIMA, a centre of excellence in precision immunotherapy with seven research groups and around 100 researchers.
He is now returning to MTC, where his own interest in the field once began.
– It feels incredibly enjoyable and exciting to return to MTC, more than 30 years after I first encountered immunology and tumour immunology here as a medical student.
What attracted him back was the combination of KI’s strong tradition in immunology and cancer research, its proximity to Karolinska University Hospital, and the opportunity to build a new research environment from the ground up.
Immune cells can be programmed to attack cancer
One area where Karl-Johan Malmberg sees particularly great potential is advanced cell and gene therapies. Through methods such as gene modification and synthetic biology, researchers can alter immune cells and make them better at finding and attacking cancer.
– We are on the brink of a new breakthrough in so-called advanced therapy medicinal products, ATMPs. With the help of gene modification and synthetic biology, we can selectively and with great precision programme immune cells to seek out and attack cancer cells.
But major scientific challenges remain to be solved. Among other things, researchers need to find target molecules that make it possible to attack the tumour without damaging healthy tissue, and to understand how tumours manage to evade the immune system. The modified immune cells must also be able to reach the tumour and continue to function in the immunosuppressive environment that is often found there.
An environment for collaboration
The new centre will have its physical base at MTC in Solna, but the ambition is to bring together and connect expertise from different parts of KI and Karolinska University Hospital.
– The great opportunity lies in overcoming fragmentation and linking the expertise that already exists at different departments, campuses and clinical operations, says Karl-Johan Malmberg.
He also wants to create an environment where researchers and students from different disciplines meet and collaborate.
– They should encounter a high-quality, internationally connected research environment characterised by an open and generous approach, where we work together to tackle important scientific questions in the field. MTC and the whole of Biomedicum offer a fantastic base for the new centre.
– This is an important initiative for MTC and for KI. With Karl-Johan Malmberg’s experience, we have the opportunity to build a strong research environment in immuno-oncology while also connecting expertise that already exists within KI and Karolinska University Hospital. Our ambition is to create the best possible conditions for research that can, in the long term, make a difference for patients, says Susanne Nylén , Head of Department at MTC at Karolinska Institutet.
The goal is to reach patients
Over the next five to ten years, Karl-Johan Malmberg hopes the centre will have grown into an internationally leading environment, recruited researchers with complementary expertise, and helped train a new generation of researchers in immuno-oncology.
– But the most important measure of success will be that the research has led to new treatment principles that can approach or reach clinical trials, as well as new innovations that drive partnerships with industry both nationally and internationally, concludes Karl-Johan.
