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VIB Blog

On our blog, you can find content curated by the VIB community. Discover our research through the eyes of our scientists.Want to be kept...

Get to know the researchers driving cutting-edge research at VIB and delve into the latest advancements in life sciences.

VIB Blog: Insights and innovations in life sciences research

Op onze blog vindt u inhoud samengesteld door de VIB-gemeenschap. Ontdek ons onderzoek door de ogen van onze wetenschappers.

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Meet Jan Remsik, a new group leader at the VIB-KU Leuven Center for Cancer Biology. As he embarks on this exciting chapter of his career, his PhD student Alia Fazal Salom took the opportunity to ask him a few questions.

Meet group leader Jan Remsik, who studies brain metastasis

Thank you. I come from Bratislava but spent quite some time in New York City, from where I moved to Belgium. And one of the things I am looking forward the most to enjoying here is, obviously, the Belgian chocolate!

Discover how dendritic cell vaccines can potentially improve long-term survival in late-stage ovarian cancer patients.

Dendritic Cell Atlas: A Game-Changer in Anti-Cancer Therapy

-written by Aarushi Audhut Caro, a PhD student at the VIB Center for Inflammation Research

Dendritic cell atlas: roadmap to a better anti-cancer therapy

One out of two patients with advanced-stage ovarian cancer dies within five years after diagnosis. Ovarian cancer is often called a silent killer because the symptoms associated with it are very vague and common, including bloating, loss of appetite, belly pain, and frequent urination. As a result, 80% of the patients initially either disregard these symptoms or are misdiagnosed. By the time the correct diagnosis of ovarian cancer is made, the patients are often in the late stages in which the cancer has already spread to other parts of the body. In many cases, this is too late! Interestingly, the majority of late-stage patients occasionally respond positively to the therapies they are provided with, and it appears that the cancer is gone. But eventually, the cancer comes back. Only this time, it’s much more aggressive and does not respond to therapies any longer. Ultimately, it is the late diagnosis and therapy resistance that eventually leads to low five-year survival in ovarian cancer patients. So, it is obvious that we need new therapies that are not only effective but have long-term effects so that late-stage ovarian cancer patients can live more than five years.

A tumor is a complex ecosystem. Understanding how this ecosystem of different cell types in the tumor microenvironment works is a crucial step toward personalized, effective treatments. Meet the Pointillism 2.0 project of the VIB Grand Challenges Program and some of the insights that have inspired it.  

Revealing the many faces of cancer: Pointillism, heterogeneity, and plasticity 

Reviving our immune system to recognize and get rid of cancer cells – immunotherapy – promises to reshape how we approach cancer treatment. One of the leading examples of immunotherapy is immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) therapy, which works by blocking so-called ‘immune checkpoint inhibitors’. This removes the brakes on the immune system to help the body recognize and attack cancer cells.

The team of Anna Sablina (VIB-KU Leuven Center for Cancer Biology) reveals how a specific mutation contributes to tumor formation

A new pharmaceutical target for schwannoma?

For schwannoma, a type of tumor that grows from Schwann cells, there are only surgical treatments. But now, work by the team of Anna Sablina (VIB-KU Leuven Center for Cancer Biology) reveals how a specific mutation contributes to tumor formation, which might lead to new therapeutic options. The work appeared in Cancer Communications.

Cancer exploits the body's biological mechanisms – but differently.

Not by the book

Sometimes, scientific discoveries in disease processes come from unlikely organisms, such as cockles or diseased flatfish 

Under the sea: Recent VIB research on aquatic organisms leads to cancer insights 

Every living organism, from the tiniest plankton to the largest whale, contributes a unique chapter to the story of our planet. With each discovery, we gain fresh insights, new perspectives, and sometimes groundbreaking revelations in the life sciences. In the ever-evolving world of science, breakthroughs come in all shapes and sizes, from transmissible cancers in cockles to potential anti-cancer agents discovered in flatfish bacteria.

Cancer Biology