Oslo Cancer Cluster

30/09/2025

I dag distribueres Mediaplanets årlige innstikk i Aftenposten om kreft. Vi fikk en sponset plass for fortelle om hvordan vi i Norges eldste helseklynge jobber for å gi kreftpasienter raskere og bedre behandling og diagnostikk. Du kan også lese intervjuet med Ketil Widerberg på nettstedet altomdinhelse.

Oslo Cancer Cluster, samlokalisert med Radiumhospitalet, er en klynge og en non-profit medlemsorganisasjon som bidrar til å finne rett behandling til riktig pasient og tid.

15/09/2025

In our ongoing awareness series, we are dedicated to raising awareness about blood cancer, including leukemia, lymphoma, and myeloma.

Today, we want to bring special attention to the innovative work being done in Norway:

💠Sigrid Skånland’s project group at Oslo universitetssykehus
This group focuses on functional precision medicine for blood cancers, with an emphasis on chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). Their research aims to address challenges in treating CLL, like drug resistance, side effects, and relapse. While new therapies have helped, they are not a cure. The group believes there is a need to customize treatment for each patient.

💠CellFit Project
This project is a collaboration led by the Oslo University Hospital, Department of Cellular Therapy. Project partners include Oslo Cancer Cluster, Sintef, and Thermo Fisher Scientific. The focus is on improving CAR T-cell therapy. This is a treatment where a patient’s T cells are taken and changed before they are put back into the patient so they can better attack cancer cells.

💠APIM Therapeutics
This company is a biotech spin-off from the NTNU - Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet. Their main drug, ATX-101, is made to target a weak point in cancer cells, making them less able to deal with stress and avoid being killed by treatments.
This drug has been tested in patients with ovarian cancer (phase Ib) and sarcoma (phase II). It has also been tested in two other ways:

• On animals with cancer: They found that ATX-101 helps other cancer drugs work better on both solid tumors and blood cancers.
• On lab samples from patients: They took bone marrow samples from people with a type of blood cancer called myeloma and found that ATX-101 was very effective at killing those cancer cells in the lab.

Thank you for joining our awareness series🍂 🧬
Stay tuned for more insights into different cancer types every Monday and Wednesday this month.

10/09/2025

In today's awareness series, we want to spread awareness of gynecological cancer. The five main types are cervical, ovarian, uterine, vaginal, and vulvar cancer.

We want to highlight the great work of the Cancer Registry of Norway (Kreftregisteret), which operates CervicalScreen Norway.

This national program aims to:
- Reduce the number of cases and deaths from cervical cancer.
- Provide advice and information to the authorities and the public on preventive measures.

Norwegian health authorities recommend that all women between the ages of 25 and 69 have an HPV test every 5 years.

We also want to highlight the great work of Line Bjørge, medical director in Gynecologic oncology at Helse Bergen Hf and professor in Obstetrics and Gynecology and associated investigator at Center for Cancer Biomarkers (CCBIO) at University of Bergen (Universitetet i Bergen)

Thank you for joining our awareness series 🍂 🧬.
Stay tuned for more insights into different cancer types every Monday and Wednesday this month.

08/09/2025

Today, we're raising awareness for prostate cancer, the most common cancer among men.

We want to highlight the vital work of the Centre for Prostate Cancer (CPC) at Oslo universitetssykehus(OUS). As Norway's largest urology department, it utilizes clinical information and biological samples to conduct research that benefits patients.

The Prostate Cancer Research Group works to gain more knowledge about the causes and development of prostate cancer, which can lead to better diagnostics and treatment.

Their work focuses on a few key areas:
• Clinical Research: Studying patient outcomes and quality of life after treatments, as well as developing new diagnostic methods.
• Translational Research: Finding and confirming new biomarkers in tumor tissue, blood, and urine.

This effort is focused on providing more personalized treatment for patients. The goal is to reduce overdiagnosis and over-treatment of the disease while also improving diagnosis and care for those with high-risk prostate cancer.

Thank you for joining our awareness series 🍂 🧬. Stay tuned for more insights into different cancer types every Monday and Wednesday this month.

03/09/2025

💠 This Wednesday, our focus is on a group of young heroes:
children fighting cancer 👊.

Childhood cancer is a reality for too many families, encompassing various diseases like leukemia, brain tumors, and lymphomas. In Norway, it's the leading cause of death by disease for children between 1 and 14.

We're incredibly proud of the work being done by our members in this critical area. We want to first acknowledge Barnekreftforeningen for their tireless efforts in supporting these young patients and their families. Barnekreftforeningen plays a crucial role in advancing research by providing annual funds for childhood cancer research. This funding enabled the creation of The National Childhood Cancer Biobank in 2017.

We also want to shine a light on one of our member companies, Hemispherian. Hemispherian is an innovative pre-clinical pharmaceutical company. It focuses on developing a promising new class of small-molecule drugs, with its lead compound being GLIX1. This drug is specifically designed to combat glioblastoma, a deadly form of brain cancer and a major cause of death by disease in children.

Hemispherian's approach is unique because its GLIX1 compound is designed to find and attack a specific enzyme inside cancer cells. This causes cancer cells to die with minimal impact on healthy tissue. This precise mechanism is crucial for treating children.
For more information: https://www.hemispherian.com/

Thank you for joining our awareness series 🍂 🧬 . Stay tuned for more insights into different cancer types every Monday and Wednesday this month.

01/09/2025

🍂As we welcome September, we're highlighting several critical cancer awareness campaigns.

This month is dedicated to raising awareness of a wide range of cancers, including:
🔵 Childhood Cancer

🔵 Blood Cancers

🔵 Gynecologic Cancers

🔵 Prostate Cancer

🔵 Thyroid Cancer

🔵 Urological Cancers

🔵 Hereditary Cancer

🔬Throughout the month, we will use our platform to highlight the valuable work of our members. Each week, we will feature a new "Member Spotlight" to showcase groundbreaking research and innovative projects that are advancing the fight against the specific cancers highlighted in September.

Let's use our platform to accelerate progress and encourage new collaborations🧬

27/08/2025

Do you know a person or team driving real change in cancer through innovation? Nominate them for the Norwegian Cancer Innovation Prize 2025 granted by Kreftforeningen!

This year’s award will be presented on 27th November 2025, during our 10th anniversary of Oslo Cancer Cluster Innovation Park and the official opening of John Ugelstad’s House. The winner will receive NOK 300 000 in recognition of their groundbreaking contribution.

Find out more:

Do you know a person or team driving real change in cancer through innovation? Nominate them for the Norwegian Cancer Innovation Prize 2025!

25/06/2025

Summer Special News – wishing you a pleasant summer break! https://mailchi.mp/eb2f5d0e670c/june-2025

15/05/2025

🚀 Major EU-funded project launches to advance early cancer detection with AI and liquid biopsies!

🧬 The PREDI-LYNCH project is an ambitious, €13.6 million initiative funded by the European Commission’s Horizon Europe Mission on Cancer. Over the next six years, 28 partners from 16 European countries will work to revolutionize early cancer detection for individuals with Lynch syndrome (LS) using cutting-edge, non-invasive technologies.

💡 The long-term vision: a multi-omics platform for affordable, accessible, and effective early detection in LS patients.

Why it matters:
📌 Lynch syndrome is the most common monogenic hereditary cancer predisposition syndrome worldwide, caused by pathogenic germline variants in DNA mismatch repair (MMR) genes. Individuals with LS face a significantly increased lifetime risk of several cancers, but early detection dramatically improves outcomes.
📌 By combining clinical innovation, AI-powered diagnostics, and biotech collaboration, PREDI-LYNCH aims to set a new benchmark in precision oncology, with potential for global clinical adoption.

The European initiative will develop validated, non-invasive biopsy tests for cancer prediction in people with Lynch syndrome.

07/05/2025

🚀 Powering cancer innovation in 90 seconds or less!

There’s no shortage of groundbreaking science in Oslo Cancer Cluster – and now, you can meet the minds behind the mission in our short member videos. 🎥

Meet the innovators: Start-up stories from Oslo Cancer Cluster.

28/04/2025

Have you registered to our May Open House breakfast?

We invite you to join us for this informal networking event on 6 May, 9-11 AM. There will be opening remarks by Tone Wilhelmsen Trøen, Chair of The Standing Committee on Health and Care, Stortinget (for Høyre), and Deputy Mayor Julianne Ofstad (for Fremskrittspartiet).

Register here: https://oslocancercluster.no/events/may-open-house-breakfast

09/04/2025

Før vi har fylt 80 år, har rundt 40 prosent av oss fått minst en kreftdiagnose. Årlig diagnostiseres over 38 000 nye krefttilfeller i Norge, og tallene vil øke. Om ti år vil det være 45 000 nye krefttilfeller. Om ti år skal også målene i den nye nasjonale kreftstrategien «Felles innsats mot kreft» være nådd. Hvordan skal det skje? Vi tok opp spørsmålet med stortingspolitikerne Kamzy Gunaratnam, Bård Hoksrud og Erlend Svardal Bøe fra henholdsvis Arbeiderpartiet, Fremskrittspartiet og Høyre.

Under frokostseminaret Fremtidens kreftbehandling handlet debatten om hvordan vi skal nå målene regjeringen har satt for kreftforskning, kreftbehandling og forebygging i løpet av de neste ti årene.