LRU – ONCOLOGY INSTITUTE OF SOUTHERN SWITZERLAND (IOSI)

The Oncology Institute of Southern Switzerland (IOSI) is one of the largest clinical cancer research centers in Switzerland with a long-standing experience in the conduct of clinical trials.

The three main areas of clinical research of our Institute comprise phase I trials, prostate cancer and lymphoproliferative diseases (lymphoma and chronic lymphocytic leukaemia), but we have also started to strengthen our clinical research in additional specialties such as  lung, gastrointestinal, gynecologic, melanoma and breast cancer.

Every year approximately 50-60 clinical studies are open to enrollment, including phase I-III trials, translational-biomarker and observational studies. Together with studies evaluating new drugs mainly sponsored by pharmaceutical industry, we conduct also several investigator-initiated trials promoted by academia, as well as projects developed by investigators of the IOSI. We run clinical trials evaluating new drugs, including first-in-human phase I trials that comprise small molecules, monoclonal antibodies and new immunotherapies. The IOSI is the only oncology center in Ticino where phase I trials are conducted.

Our physicians also carry out numerous retrospective research projects, in which previously collected data is assessed in order to gain insights on the outcomes of different types of malignancies and to identify parameters or treatments that can impact on the disease. Part of these projects serve also as a material for the conduction of master theses for the students of the Università della Svizzera Italiana (USI).

The IOSI has an active program of competitive clinical research fellowships, to recruit and train talented young physicians from Switzerland and abroad, some of which then remain to strengthen the medical team dedicated to clinical research.

An important aspect of our research is represented by the collaborations not only with pharmaceutical industry but also with non-for-profit academic organizations. Of particular relevance are the collaborations with the Institute of Oncology Research (IOR), the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB), the International Extranodal Lymphoma Group (IELSG), the Swiss Group for Clinical Research (SAKK), the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) and the Clinical Trial Unit of the EOC (CTU-EOC). Many of our medical staff have a central role in the USI Faculty of Biomedical Sciences and are also associated with ETH Zurich, University of Berne, University of Geneva, University of Zurich, University of Padua and the STAMPEDE team in the UK.

The high volume of clinical research activity highlights the devotion of our Institute to clinical research. The IOSI has an extensive publication record in a multitude of areas related to both solid tumours and hematological malignancies. Researchers from the IOSI present regularly results of their work, or are invited as speakers in major international conferences.

The IOSI clinics of Medical Oncology (Head: Prof. Dr. Silke Gillessen), Haematology (Head: Prof. Dr. Georg Stüssi), Radiation Oncology (Head: Prof. Dr. Thomas Zilli) and Palliative Care (Head: PD Dr. Tanja Fusi-Schmidhauser) have their own clinical research activities and each team, based on its scientific interests, can propose trials to be activated or promote investigator-initiated trials. Finally, the dedicated medical team of the Phase I program takes care of the activation and conduct of early phase clinical trials including first-in-human phase I clinical trials, with the goal of offering patients access to innovative, cutting-edge therapies.

The IOSI scientific research board (composed of the IOSI medical and scientific director, the chair of clinical research, selected senior physicians, the CRU operations and finance managers, the scientific project manager and a finance representative) decides about the trials to be opened and is responsible for the strategy of the clinical research of the institute.

To support investigators at IOSI and promote clinical research, a well-structured clinical research unit (CRU, Head: Dr I. Colombo) is active and coordinates the research activities. The IOSI-CRU staff includes research nurses, study coordinators, research pharmacists, administrative personnel and a quality assurance manager and provides the infrastructures and support for researchers of the institute.