The Leuven Lung Cancer Group (LLCG) is a world- wide recognised high-quality clinical and experimental hub in which innovative diagnosis and treatment of lung cancer was pioneered. The group has published over 500 scientific papers, including practice-changing work in diagnosis and treatment, some published in top-journals such as the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Chest, Lancet and The New England Journal of Medicine. The LLCG includes specialists in pulmonology, respiratory oncology, surgery, nuclear medicine, radiology, radiation oncology, pathology and rehabilitation. The group includes specialists in pulmonology, Prof Johan Vansteenkiste, Prof Christophe Dooms and Prof Kristiaan Nackaerts, in surgery, Prof Paul De Leyn and Dr Herbert Decaluwe, in nuclear medicine Prof Christophe Dooms, for radiology Prof Walter De Wever, for pathology Prof Eric Verbeken and Prof Thierry Troosters for rehabilitation. This includes molecular imaging with PET scans, invasive and non-invasive diagnosis, and novel systemic therapies. The latter includes trials with chemotherapy and targeted agents, but also with vaccination against lung cancer and immunotherapy as well. This research group has great expertise in the identification of biomarkers in blood and tissue samples of patients, due to the participation in many in house and (inter)national clinical trials (e.g. EORTC) with embedded translational research. There is thus a proven track record available for translational and multidisciplinary clinical research in lung cancer.
