U-CAN diagnosis areas

Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer in women in Sweden with nearly 9000 new cases yearly.

The U-CAN breast cancer collection started in 2013 in Uppsala and then included all types of breast cancer. Since 2020 the collection has refocused and now only collects samples from patients that undergo neo-adjuvant treatment, patients with tripple-negative or HER2+ breast cancers and all forms of male breast cancers. Within the breast cancer area, U-CAN collaborates with the SCAN-B-project in Lund (external link).

Tissue samples are collected as pre-operative biopsies and as tumor resections from surgery. Blood samples are generally taken at diagnosis/pre-surgery, after completed primary oncological treatment, three months after completed primary oncological treatment, 5 years after diagnosis and at the first relapse of the disease.

Gynecological cancer is the collective term for several different diagnoses that include tumors in the uterus, cervix, ovaries, vulva, vagina, borderline tumors, and tumors "in other and unspecificed female genitalia". Out of these, uterine cancer is the most common with circa 1400 new cases annually in Sweden.

The U-CAN gynecological cancer collection started in 2012 in Uppsala and included all of the above mentioned diagnoses. Since 2020 the collection also includes patients with ovarian cysts and patients with post-menstrual bleedings for the purpose of serving as control samples to the cancer samples.

Tissue samples are collected as pre-operative biopsies (when applicable) and as tumor resections from surgery. Blood samples are typically collected at diagnosis/pre-surgery, at the first follow-up visist after completed primary oncological treatment, one year after surgery/completed primary oncological treatment, and at the first relapse of the disease.

Brain tumors are an heterogeneous group of tumors that afflict circa 1300 persons per year in Sweden. Most commonly the tumor originates from some type of brain glial cell (e.g. gliomas and oligodendrogliomas)

The U-CAN brain tumor collection started in 2010 in Uppsala and Umeå. In Uppsala, the collection originally also included meningiomas apart from glial cell tumors, but the collection and inclusion of new meningioma cases ceased in 2020.

Tissue samples are collected as tumor resections from surgery. Blood samples are generally taken at diagnosis/pre-surgery. For glioblastoma grade III and IV, follow-up blood samples are taken prior to oncological treatment, after completed oncological treatment, and at the first relapse of the disease.

Head-/ neck cancers is the collective term for a wide variety of different tumors that can affect the nose, sinuses, mouth, tounge, pharynx, saliva glands or larynx. In Sweden these types of cancers are quite rare both individually and as a group with circa 1600 new cases per year, and primarilly affects males.

The U-CAN collection of head-/ neck cancers started in 2018 in Uppsala.

Tissue samples are collected as pre-operative biopsies (when applicable) and as tumor resections from surgery. Blood samples are generally taken at diagnosis, after completed neo-adjuvant treatment/before surgery, three months after surgery or 4-8 weeks after completed primary oncological treatment, one year after surgery/completed primary oncological treatment, and at the first relapse of the disease.

Colorectal cancer is the third most common form of cancer in Sweden in both males and females with around 6800 new cases annually.

The U-CAN colorectal collection started in 2010 in both Uppsala and Umeå, and in 2021 in Gävle and includes the following types of subdiagnoses: colon cancer, cancer in the recto-sigmoideal border zone, rectal cancer and peritoneal/retroperitoneal cancer. In Gävle, samples are also collected from volunteers that undergo rectal endoscopy examinations.

Tissue samples are collected as biopsies at rectoscopy, fibre- and colonoscopy and as tumor resections from surgery. Blood samples are generally taken at diagnosis/pre-surgery, 6-8 weeks after surgey, after completed primary oncological treatment, one year after surgery, and at the first relapse of the disease.

Leukemias (or haematological malignancies) is the collective term for a large group of subdiagnoses where chronic lymphatic leukemia (CLL), acute lymphatic leukemia (ALL), Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and myeloma are among the most well known forms.

The U-CAN haematological collection started in 2010 in both Uppsala and Umeå and collects across the whole spectrum of heamatological malignancies. In Västerås the collection of CLL and myleoma started in 2021. In Uppsala, mastocytosis and the whole range of myeloproliferative diseases are also included in the U-CAN collection.

From leukemia patients, U-CAN collects tissue from bone marrow and circulating tumor cells from blood that are frozen. Saliva samples are collected as a source of normal genomic DNA. In general, blood samples are collected at diagnosis, at the start or end of treatments, at various follow-up visits 1-5 years after diagnosis and at the first relapse or apparent progression of the disease. However, the collection routines sometimes differ significantly depending on the exact diagnosis.

Liver- , bile duct and pancreatic cancer are diseases that annually affect around 700, 450 and 1300 new patients in Sweden, respectively. Liver cancer is more common in males while bile duct cancer is more common in women.

The U-CAN collection of these diagnoses started in Uppsala in 2021.

Tissue samples are collected as tumor resections from surgery. Blood samples are generally taken at diagnosis/pre-surgery and at the first follow-up visit after surgery.

This diagnosis group includes patients that suffer from liver metastases regardless of the organ the tumor originated in.

The collection started in May 2023 and is only active in Uppsala.

Tissue samples are collected at surgery. Blood samples are collected prior to surgery and at 4-6 weeks after after surgery.

Lung cancer affects around 4000 persons in Sweden per year and is the sixth most common form of cancer overall, but the fourh most common among Swedish women.

The U-CAN collection of lung cancer started in 2011 in Umeå and in 2015 in Uppsala, Falun and Gävle.

Tissue samples are collected as pre-operative biopsies (when applicable) and as tumor resections from surgery. Blood samples are generally taken at diagnosis, after completed neo-adjuvant treatment, before surgery, 4-6 months after surgery or at 6 month after completed primary oncological treatment, and at the first relapse/evidence of progressive disease.

Lymphoma is a heterogeneous group of tumors that originates from white blood cells and yearly affects around 2700 persons in Sweden. Out of the many forms of lymphoma, Hodgkins lymphoma and B-cell lymphomas are among the most well known types.

The U-CAN lymphoma collection started in 2010 in Uppsala, in 2011 in Umeå, in 2012 in Falun, 2014 in Karlstad and 2017 in Gävle.

Tissue samples and sometimes bone marrow samples are taken at diagnosis and at the first relapse or progression of the disease. Blood samples are collected at various time points depending on the exact form of lymphoma, but generally samples are collected at diagnosis or before treatment start, at 3 months and at 1 year after completed treatment, and at the first relapse. Sometimes blood samples are also collected during ongoing treatments.

Gastric and esophageal cancer are two relatively uncommon forms of cancer that annually affects 800 and 500 persons in Sweden, respectively. Both cancer forms are clearly most common in males.

The U-CAN collection started in 2017 and is only done in Uppsala.

Tissue samples for research purposes are taken in conjunction with a diagnostic endoscopy and from surgical resections (when possible). Blood samples are generally taken at the time of diagnosis or before treatment, after completed neo-adjuvant treatment or before surgery, 6 weeks after surgery, and at the first relapse.

Neuroendocrine tumors are relatively uncommon tumors that can arise in several organs such as lungs, stomach, pancreas, small intestine and rectum. A common feature is that the tumors produce hormones that often cause syptoms.

The U-CAN collection of neuroendocrine tumors started in Uppsala in 2013 and includes all forms of neuroendocrine tumors, including the hereditary diseases MEN1 and MEN2.

Tissue samples for research purposes are collected through biopsies and from surgical resections. Blood samples are generally taken at the time of diagnosis or before treatment, three days after surgery, and at the first relapse.

Kidney cancer is a relatively uncommon form of cancer which affects around 12 000 persons in Sweden per year, and about twice as many men as women.

The U-CAN collection started in December of 2022 and is only done in Uppsala.

Tissue samples for research purposes are collected through biopsies and from surgical resections. Blood samples are collected at the time of diagnosis or before the start of oncological treatment, at follow-up visits around six week after surgery, after about six months after surgery or after the start of oncological treatment, and at the first relapse.

Persons that have undergone an organ transplant run higher risk of developing some form of cancer since they, for instance, are treated with immune supressive drugs. Several different forms of cancer can arise and hence, this is not a real "diagnosis area" by itself. The collection instead aims and focuses on performing research on the group of patients that develop cancer after an organ transplant.

The U-CAN collection started in 2019 and is carried out across the entire Healthcare region Mid Sweden, but is led and coordinated from Uppsala.

Currently, blood samples are only collected at the time of inclusion in U-CAN for this patient group.

Prostate cancer is the most common form of cancer amongst Swedish males with around 10 000 new cases annually.

The U-CAN collection started in 2010 in Uppsala and in 2011 in Umeå. In 2021 Uppsala ceased to include new prostate cancer patients, but still continues to follow the already included patients with follow-up samples.

Follow-up samples are collected at the end of oncological treatment, one year after the end of oncological treatment, and at at the first relapse of the disease.

Testicular cancer is a rare type of male cancer that affects mainly young people in the ages of 25-40 years of age. Around 300 new cases are reported per year in Sweden.

The U-CAN collection started in December of 2022 and is only done in Uppsala.

Tissue samples for research purposes are collected through biopsies and from surgical resections. Blood samples are collected at the time of diagnosis or before the start of oncological treatment, at follow-up visits around six week after surgery, and after about six months after surgery or six months after the start of oncological treatment. Follow-up samples are also collected at the first relapse and/or in conjunction with autologous stem cell treatment.

During the Covid-19 pandemic a special U-CAN sample collection initiative was started with the goal of collecting samples from all patients currently undergoing oncological treatment in Uppsala, regardless of their primary cancer diagnosis. The aims were to investigate if patients undergoing oncological treatment were more susceptible to Covid-19 infection or if they became sicker once infected, compared to healthy volunteers (primarilly staff working at the oncology clinic) as controls.

The collection was active between April 2020 and September 2021 and was able to recruite around 700 cases and 360 controls. The first results of the study were published in 2021 in this article (link to external site).