Diagnostics and research for the III. Medicine

Founded in mid-2005, the Molecular Cytological Laboratory focuses on special haemato-oncological diagnostics and combines cellular as well as genetic parameters for diagnosis.

Within one year, the laboratory analyses more than 33,000 blood samples, around 1,000 bone marrow biopsies and around 10,000 molecular markers in the various areas. In addition to the classification of diseases, this special diagnosis serves as support for the clinic in the areas of prognosis generation, therapy decision, therapy monitoring and pharmacogenetics.

The uniqueness of this laboratory is the combination of various methods – from proven cytology to state-of-the-art molecular biological techniques – within a laboratory with a direct connection to the clinic.

“We remain at the cutting edge of science and technology so that our doctors can make accurate diagnoses and prognoses for our patients so that the most suitable (individualized) therapy can be determined for the individual patient. “

The stem cell laboratory at the University Clinic for Internal Medicine III makes it possible to obtain stem cells in Salzburg itself, to process them under the highest safety requirements in a clean room class A and to store them until use. Univ. -Prof. Dr. Richard Geil, President of Internal Medicine III, emphasizes: “For the first time, patients in the context of highly dosed chemotherapies of their tumor disease no longer have to make an effort to obtain stem cells in Vienna during this vulnerable and infectious phase of treatment, and vice versa, the stem cell product no longer takes a long and dangerous path back to Salzburg. ”

The removal and interim storage of the body’s own stem cells is especially necessary for survival with high-dose chemotherapy, as otherwise the blood formation in the bone marrow would be permanently damaged and thus the basis for viability would no longer be given.

The number of autologous stem cell transplants in the context of high-dose chemotherapy has increased very strongly in Salzburg. It can also be expected that at approx. In addition, 100 patients per year receive a preventive collection and cryopreservation of stem cells in order to be prepared for the possibility of a recurrence of the tumor disease – especially in the bone marrow itself. Research into the different properties of normal stem cells and tumor stem cells is also of utmost importance for the further development of treatment concepts. Further future prospects arise from the possibility of transferring stem cells from healthy foreign donors (= so-called allogeneic bone marrow transplantation). Through the co-transmission of the donor’s immune system, a lifelong tumour rejection can be triggered and thus at least a partial cure of cancer that cannot be treated in any other way can be achieved.

“We remain at the cutting edge of science and technology so that our doctors can make accurate diagnoses and prognoses for our patients so that the most suitable (individualized) therapy can be determined for the individual patient. “

Library of Life

The aim of the biobanks is to build up an extensive archive, to better understand the mechanisms underlying the development and progression of cancer, and to identify prognostic biomarkers that allow a prediction of the patient’s response to therapy. This may provide a basis for the development of new therapies and better predict the course of the illnesses and the response to certain therapies.

“Samples from biobanks enable the implementation of the latest findings from research for the respective patient and/or for future patients. “