The Translational Oncology Research Centre (TORC) focuses on multidisciplinary fundamental, translational and clinical cancer research to tackle different stages of the disease, including improving the detection of early and residual disease, treatment and care, and quality of life.

TORC has two main research programs. The Cancer Biology, Immunology and Immunotherapy program comprises mainly fundamental and translational research, covering themes such as tumor heterogeneity and plasticity, the tumor microenvironment, molecular and cellular immunotherapy, and immuno-oncology. The Clinical Therapy and Quality of Life program mainly covers clinical research, with a translational component, focusing on the development of cutting-edge treatments such as immunotherapy and targeted therapy, and on enhancing the quality of life of cancer patients, including cancer survivorship.

Key tumor domains include hematological tumors such as multiple myeloma, acute myeloid leukemia and acute lymphoid leukemia, as well as solid tumors such as pancreatic cancer, melanoma, glioma, colorectal cancer, lung cancer, breast cancer and glioblastoma.

Fundamental research spans different tumor models, including multiple myeloma, acute myeloid leukemia and B-cell lymphoma, aiming to find novel therapeutic targets within epigenetics, tumor cross-talk and immune therapy. Translational research covers different domains within hematology, such as hematopoietic stem cell and immune effector cell therapy, liquid biopsies, sensitive methods for minimal residual disease detection and thrombophilia. Other research focuses on strategies to enhance the ability of immune cells to identify, surveil and destroy cancer cells, considering mechanisms of resistance to immunotherapy, advancing technology platforms such as mRNA, lentiviral vectors and single domain antibodies, and translating successful preclinical strategies towards early-phase clinical trials. Additional research addresses pancreatic cancer biology and cancer immunotherapy, including autologous dendritic cell therapies.