Our scientific ecosystem

A unique location for collaborative research

Our cancer center strives for excellence in basic cancer research and education, and explicitly seeks to translate its research findings into products and solutions that are of benefit for society. We pro-actively promote translational research and have the ultimate ambition to improve quality of life and patient survival by taking advantage of the close proximity and collaborative environment within the Leuven University (KU Leuven), its academic hospital (UZ Leuven) and other institutions worldwide. CCB has a privileged geographic location on the KU Leuven Gasthuisberg campus (Leuven, Belgium). It is hosted by the KU Leuven university (the largest university in Flanders/Belgium) and physically connected to its internationally recognized University Hospital UZ Leuven.

In order to bridge basic and translational cancer research, the Leuven comprehensive cancer center (LKI) was created several years ago. LKI brings together fundamental researchers, oncologists, radiologists, pathologists, nurses, etc. that are involved in cancer care and/or cancer research. Being part of this large cancer hub and unique multidisciplinary landscape, CCB is ideally located to be active on the whole cancer research continuum ranging from top-notch basic and preclinical cancer research to translational and early/late clinical research. However, excellence in basic cancer research is our main strength and key priority.