National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
The Pediatric Hematology-Oncology Unit of the First Department of Pediatrics of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA), is the largest center for treating pediatric/adolescent patients with neoplastic and hematological disorders in Greece, with >100 new cases of neoplasia per year, corresponding to around 30% of the total cases in Greece.
The Unit has been designated as a Reference Center for Pediatric Cancer in Greece and is a full member of the ERN-PaedCan . It has participated in many international collaborative projects, like the iBFM-sponsored ALLIC for leukemias, SIOPEN for neuroblastoma, INFORM for relapse/resitant malignancies. The Unit has developed strong collaborations with high-ranked international institutions like the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ)-Heidelberg and the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. It is considered the leading Unit for NeuroOncology and congenital hematological disorders following around 65% of the neuro-oncology cases in Greece.
The Research and Diagnostic Laboratory of the Unit is fully equipped to perform different assays, including NGS. Many clinical and basic research studies have been completed in the Unit and their results published in peer-reviewed scientific journals.
The affiliated Center for Cellular and Genetic Therapy conducts translational research in cutting-edge areas, such as Regenerative Medicine and Cellular Immunotherapy. In the field of Regenerative Medicine, the scientific team of the Center has many years of experience in creating induced Pluripotent Stem Cells (iPSCs) and has already developed in vitro models for the study of genetic diseases of childhood, which have been published in international scientific journals. Pre-clinical study of the differentiation of induced Pluripotent Stem Cells into hematopoietic and mesenchymal ancestral cells is the next primary target of the center. The results of these studies will contribute to the development of clinical studies of cell and gene therapy for specific diseases. In the field of Cellular Immunotherapy, the Center is active in the development of pre-clinical models of immunotherapy for resistant acute lymphoblastic leukemia with genetically modified T-lymphocytes of double hybrid receptors (CAR-CD19-leukemia-CD22), through which malignant leukemic cells will be recognized and killed. Also, the application of the method of cellular electroporation for the creation of CAR-T lymphocytes, is the subject of study at the laboratory level.