News archive

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet and the University of Oslo present a new type of immunotherapy that attacks cancer cells with a specific mutation. A study published in the journal Nature Cancer shows promising effects on patient cells in mice and offers hope for patients with acute myeloid leukaemia (AML), a cancer that has proven difficult to treat.

Reflux disease manifests as acid regurgitation and heartburn and is a known risk factor for oesophageal cancer. However, a new study published in The BMJ by researchers at Karolinska Institutet now reports that the majority of patients do not have a higher risk of cancer. A large-scale study from three Nordic countries shows that the cancer risk is only elevated in patients whom gastroscopy reveals to have changes in the oesophageal mucosa.

One radiologist supported by AI detected more cases of breast cancer in screening mammography than two radiologists working together, reports the ScreenTrustCAD study from Karolinska Institutet in The Lancet Digital Health. The researchers say that AI is now ready to be implemented in breast cancer screening.

Close relatives of people with metabolic-associated fatty liver disease have a higher risk of developing liver cancer and dying from liver-related diseases, according to a national study from Karolinska Institutet published in The Journal of Hepatology. This means that family members could also benefit from the lifestyle advice that is currently only given to patients, the researchers conclude.

Cholesterol-lowering statins might protect patients with ulcerative colitis from developing and dying from colorectal cancer. Statin treatment was also associated with a lower risk of death regardless of cause in patients with ulcerative colitis or Crohn's disease. This is according to a study by researchers at Karolinska Institutet published in eClinicalMedicine.

Vitamin C and other antioxidants stimulate the formation of new blood vessels in lung cancer tumours, a new study from Karolinska Institutet published in The Journal of Clinical Investigation shows. The discovery corroborates the idea that dietary supplements containing antioxidants can accelerate tumour growth and metastasis.

RNA has a central role in the cell's protein production. New research shows that RNA can be changed through various chemical modifications, the function of which is unknown to most. The study was carried out by researchers within Department of Cell and Molecular Biology and Department of Biosciences and Nutrition and published in the scientific journal Science Advances.

A study by researchers from Karolinska Institutet and physicians from Karolinska Hospital shows that a capsule of connective tissue around liver metastases from colorectal cancer improves patient survival and represents a healing response by the liver, not a phenomenon caused by the tumor itself.

Researchers from Karolinska Institutet have discovered a new molecular mechanism by which cancer cells safeguard themselves from oncogene-induced replication stress and propose a strategy to deactivate this protective mechanism. The study is published in the scientific journal Molecular Cell.

Since the summer of 2022, KI has been granted approximately SEK 280 million for a total of 33 different projects. The funds come from several research programs within the EU, of which Horizon Europe, EU's framework program for research and innovation, is the largest.

Assistant Professor Maurice Michel has received the Eppendorf Award for Young European Investigators 2023 for his research on artificial functions of DNA repair enzymes.

Five researchers at Karolinska Institutet are awarded 30 million Swedish kronor from the Swedish Research Council (VR) to establish a so-called centre of excellence for further development of cell-based cancer treatments. The funds will be distributed over five years, with the potential for another five years of funding after evaluation.

Maria Karvouni from the Center for Hematology and Regenerative Medicine (HERM) at the Department of Medicine, Huddinge (MedH) is defending her thesis: "Cellular and personalized therapies in Multiple Myeloma with special emphasis on retargeted NK cells" 16 June 2023. Main supervisor is Evren Alici (MedH).

Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is a type of cancer that occurs in the nasopharynx, which is located behind the nose and above the back of the throat. NPC has a geographically skewed distribution worldwide, with high incidence rates in East and Southeast Asia. NPC is difficult to detect early, and treatment usually involves radiation therapy, chemotherapy or a combination of the two.

Jenny Mjösberg at the Department of Medicine in Huddinge at Karolinska Institutet, receives the 2023 Eric K. Fernström Prize for young, promising and successful researchers, for her outstanding research on the role of innate lymphoid cells in various diseases.

Karolinska Institutet has decided to award Johan Hartman and Mattias Rantalainen the 2023 Prize for Innovation and Utilization. They are rewarded for improving cancer diagnostics with innovative research and inspiring working methods.

Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women and the likelihood of surviving the disease is higher if the cancer is detected early and the tumour is relatively small and not very aggressive.

Breast cancer is the most common cancer affecting women and many women are being treated to prevent the cancer from returning, for example with adjuvant hormone therapy. This therapy is prescribed as a once-a-day pill for estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer patients (around 80% of all cases) for a duration of at least five years.

Close on 500 colleagues in the cancer field from Karolinska University Hospital and Karolinska Institutet gathered in Aula Medica during this year’s Karolinska CCC conference on 30–31 March. Also attending were Sahlgrenska CCC and Skåne CCC.

In a nationwide Swedish study of 207 births to women with an earlier diagnosis of colorectal cancer (CRC), researchers found an increased risk of both maternal and neonatal adverse outcomes. The study was published in eClinicalMedicine and is a collaboration between Washington University in St Louis and Karolinska Institutet.

Deadline for applications: 1 June at 2 p.m.

Thirteen researchers at Karolinska Institutet have been awarded 54.9 million Swedish kronor from the Swedish Cancer Society. The foundation is distributing a total of SEK 124.3 million to 31 cancer researchers in Sweden.

Researchers at the Department of Oncology-Pathology have together with researchers from The European Molecular Biology Laboratory published a paper in Nature Chemical Biology where they developed a method that can identify important differences between proteins in an unbiased way.

While there are currently a dozen approved AI systems for breast cancer screening, it has been difficult to evaluate their clinical performance objectively. Now, however, there is a Swedish validation platform ready to compare how well AI systems detect signs of breast cancer – and its development has been led by researchers at Karolinska Institutet.

Immunotherapy is an effective form of therapy for different types of cancer. However, for pancreatic cancer, its effect is limited and differs between men and women. Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have now found a possible explanation for this sex difference. The study, which is published in Cancer Research, reveals the presence of an immune cell in women with pancreatic cancer that obstructs the body’s immune response. The results can pave the way for a more sex-specific treatment.

Immunotherapy has been shown to greatly improve survival rates for certain types of cancer. However, in some cases, it can lead to an over-activation of the immune system, which can be dangerous. In a recent review by researchers at Karolinska Institutet, potential therapies have been identified, which might make it possible to continue with immunotherapy even when facing severe side effects.

CAR T-cell therapy, a certain kind of cancer treatment in which the immune system’s T cells are programmed to attack tumour cells, is effective in mice with ovarian cancer, according to a study published in The Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer. The researchers, who work at Karolinska Institutet, hope that the discovery will pave the way for a clinical trial to see how effective the treatment is for women with the disease.

The Swedish presidency of the EU began in the new year and so much is evident, especially when it comes to issues of healthcare. Anna Martling, chief physician and professor of surgery at Karolinska Institutet, will be leading the EU Cancer Congress, which kicks off in Stockholm on 1 February.

Proteins do not have a single shape, but are more like dynamic robots. But – how do they actually move? And what does this tell us about their function? Laura Orellana describes the movement of proteins using computer simulations – and has discovered a new drug target for glioblastoma brain tumours.

Proteins can make any inventor green with envy. It is proteins that make the body work. But when these same super-substances make mistakes, we may get sick with things like cancer or Alzheimer's disease. The job of researchers is to sort out the proteins when they malfunction.

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have developed a method that should be able to predict whether a patient with breast cancer will benefit from a particular treatment or not. The cell-based method has been tested on patients with promising results, according to a study published in PNAS.

Nano-sized membrane bubbles known as extracellular vesicles activate the immune system in mice and seem to render their tumours sensitive to a type of immunotherapy drug called a checkpoint inhibitor. This is according to a new study published in Cancer Immunology Research by researchers at Karolinska Institutet.

The Cancer and Allergy Fund has awarded a grant of SEK 4.2 million to 23 patient-end projects on cancer and allergies. Of these, fifteen researchers at nine departments at Karolinska Institutet are to share SEK 2.5 million.

In this year's announcement of project grants from Radiumhemmets Forskningsfonder, OnkPat received a total of 33 million SEK. 32 researchers were granted funding.

When cancer is detected at an early stage, the rates of survival increase drastically, but today only a few cancer types are screened for. An international study led by researchers at Chalmers University of Technology and affiliated with Karolinska Institutet shows that a new, previously untested method can find multiple types of newly formed cancers at the same time – including cancer types that are difficult to detect with comparable methods. The results are published in the journal PNAS.

Karolinska Institutet and Cancer Research UK’s innovation engine, Cancer Research Horizons, have announced a 5-year strategic partnership dedicated to accelerating the translation of academic cancer research into improved treatments for patients.

Even as a child, Martin Bergö wanted to be a scientist. And he did. His biggest discovery so far is that vitamins can worsen the prognosis for cancer patients.

Johannes Asplund at the research group Upper GI Surgery, the Department of Molecular Medicine and Surgery, will defend his thesis "Towards an improved survival in gastric cancer" on November 25th, 2022.
Main Supervisor is Jesper Lagergren.

Congratulations to all the researchers at the Department of Biosciences and Nutrition (BioNut) who received funding from Cancerfonden for the years 2023-2025.

Cells that have permanently stopped multiplying, so-called senescent cells, could play an important role in the fight against cancer, according to a new study in mice by researchers at Karolinska Institutet and IRB Barcelona. The study, published in the journal Cancer Discovery, found that vaccination with senescent cancer cells significantly reduced the formation of melanoma and pancreatic cancer tumors in mice.

Professor Staffan Strömblad at the Department of Biosciences and Nutrition, Karolinska Institutet, has received a grant from World Wide Cancer Research for a project on: "How may mechanotransduction prevent cancer?".

Among patients with kidney cancer, the activity of four specific genes in the cancer cells seems to be able to predict the risk of the tumour spreading and the patient’s chances of survival. This is shown by researchers from Karolinska Institutet in a preclinical study published in Nature Communications.

A randomized study, known by the acronym NordICC – Northern - European Initiative on Colorectal Cancer - shows colonoscopy screening reduces the risk of colorectal cancer by 18 percent. The reduction is much smaller than experts previously assumed. The NordICC study is now published in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM).

Joachim Nilsson at the research group Endocrine Surgery, the Department of Molecular Medicine and Surgery, will defend his thesis "Avidity-guided radionuclide therapy for thyroid cancer" on September 30, 2022. Main Supervisor is Catharina Ihre Lundgren.

Congratulations to Professor Jan Zedenius who has been elected President of the International Association of Endocrine Surgeons, IAES. IAES is an integrated society of the International Society of Surgery ISS/SIC and the inauguration ceremony was held at the International Surgical Week in Vienna on August 16, 2022.

Women with a breast cancer diagnosis undergoing procedures for fertility preservation are not at increased risk of recurrence of the disease or disease-specific mortality. This has been shown in a study by Karolinska Institutet that followed the participants for five years on average. The results, published in the journal JAMA Oncology, could in the future provide safety and new hope to women who want to preserve their fertility after cancer treatment with chemotherapy.

Children who suffer a relapse of the aggressive cancer known as neuroblastoma have small chances of survival. However, a group including researchers at Karolinska Institutet have now shown that DHODH blockers, which are well-tolerated in humans, can cure neuroblastoma in mice if administered in combination with chemotherapy. The study, published in the journal JCI Insight, paves the way for clinical trials of this combination therapy.

Svenska Läkaresällskapet (The Swedish Medical Society, SLS) has decided to award Professor Jonas F Ludvigsson at Karolinska Institutet with the society's prestigious Jubilee Award. The prize winner is awarded SEK 150,000 and the SLS century medal in silver.

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet, among others, have studied the benefit of adding an established drug as a novel targeted therapy in the treatment of acute myeloid leukaemia (AML). The results suggest that the drug hydroxyurea can increase treatment efficacy at a relatively low cost. The results, which were published in the Journal of Internal Medicine, could have significant implications for cancer treatment, including in low-income countries.

Turning down the thermostat seems to make it harder for cancer cells to grow, according to a study in mice by researchers at Karolinska Institutet. The study, published in the journal Nature, found that chilly temperatures activate heat-producing brown fat that consumes the sugars the tumors need to thrive. Similar metabolic mechanisms were found in a cancer patient exposed to a lowered room temperature.