About CMCC
The CMCC represents a unique collaborative platform for cancer researchers associated with Aarhus University Hospital and other external scientific collaborators.
CMCC is funded by The John and Birthe Meyer foundation and was inaugurated in march 2005 at The INCUBA Science Park, Skejby. CMCC moved to new facilities in december 2008, at the new Department of Molecular Medicine at Aarhus University Hospital. The generous grant was prolonged for five years in june 2009.
The Aim
Multiple disciplines are brought together to obtain a new synergism in cancer research. The CMCC houses clinicians and scientists from disciplines as Surgery, Oncology, Clinical Biochemistry, Pathology, Molecular Biology, Mathematics, Statistics, Bioinformatics, Chemistry, and Epidemiology.
Improved understanding of common cancer diseases such as bladder, colon and prostate cancer is our mission, obtainance of a better survival and a better follow-up and treatment of those diseases is our goal.
The Vision
The vision is to utilize molecular knowledge to improve the treatment of cancer patients.
The center conducts internationally competitive research which can:
- identify sub-groups of patients who need a tailor suited treatment
- identify new molecules that can work as treatment targets
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map the complex intracellular network controlling cellular behaviour as e.g. invasive growth and formation of metastasis
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identify new markers that can predict the disease course and treatment response
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form the basis for a more rational treatment for patients in the future.
The People
A large number of clinicians and scientists collaborate within the CMCC. These are supported by a staff of dedicated technicians.
CMCC is embedded in the Institute for Clinical Medicine at Aarhus University and training of new scientists is an important matter.
Therefore the center housed the national Danish Research School in Molecular Cancer Research from 2003 to 2008.
The Science
The science is at international top level with publications in major international journals such as Nature, Nature Genetics, Cancer Research, JNCI, Cancer Cell, New England Journal of Medicine, Blood, Clinical Cancer Research and others. See recent publications for more details.
The CMCC is part of only four Nordic Centers of Excellence in Molecular Medicine. The main group is located at the Molecular Diagnostic Laboratory at Aarhus University Hospital.
Tissue Banks and Molecular Technology
The CMCC has two major platforms: tissue banks with clinical annotation, and advanced molecular technology. Bringing these platforms together creates an unsurpassed synergy aimed at a new molecular classification of cancer disease.
The tissue banks with clinical annotation are based on the surgical units at Aarhus University Hospital (Aarhus Sygehus, Skejby Sygehus), that inform patients and collect the samples at the operation room, if the patients agree to participate in the project.
Large resources are devoted to sample registration, sample transport to the laboratory and extraction of molecules needed for research (DNA, RNA, proteins), as well as registration of clinical data on diagnosis, stage of disease, findings at follow-up etc. Tailor-suited database solutions have been developed for this purpose and are constantly being updated with data. 
The technology platform is mainly based at Aarhus University Hospital. Modern equipment as high throughput robots, advanced microarray technology, sequencers, laser micro-dissectors and other are being used to generate complex datasets. The obtained large datasets are analyzed by doctors and molecular biologists in collaboration with epidemiologists and mathematicians, who are experts in data-mining.
