Clinical professor left school to read a book on the immune system

Clinical Professor Inge Marie Svane sees hundreds of cancer patients a year when they come to receive immune therapy at Herlev Hospital – a type of treatment that uses the body’s own immune system to fight the cancer cells. 

It is a complex process that Inge Marie Svane has spent most of her career studying. She receives the KFJ Award in recognition of her research and management of the translational National Center for Cancer Immune Therapy. 

The award recognises clinical researchers in the field of medicine, who have made significant, top-class contributions to their field. 

“Of course, it is a huge honour, because you know that you are up against a lot of talented colleagues. But also because the award covers a great number of fields,” Inge Marie Svane says. 

The award comes with DKK 1.75 million, DKK 250,000 of which is a personal prize. 

Fundamental and clinical research go hand in hand

“Our immune system is extremely powerful. It can save us from a lot of different things, but it also has the power to kill us,” Inge Marie Svane says. 

Her fascination with the immune system began in upper secondary school and increased during her medical studies. 

“They had merged statistics and immunology, and the exam was a multiple choice test, which shows that it was a low-priority subject. So I chose to take six months’ leave to study an American textbook on immunology. I found it extremely interesting,” she says. 

Inge Marie Svane plans to spend the cash prize of DKK 1.5 million on a PhD project to determine how best to help cancer patients undergoing immune therapy. 

“I want to do a series of clinical trials to test different ways of managing the adverse effects of immune therapy. Because there is actually no documentation of what we do today. And I think it is important to change that.” 

In Denmark, thousands of cancer patients undergo immune therapy every year. Globally, we are talking about millions. 

But identifying the best way of helping cancer patients manage adverse effects is not easy. 

“Treatment targeting the immune system does not affect one, but thousands of factors. It is extremely complex – and really fascinating,” Inge Marie Svane says. 

She once spent seven years doing fundamental research in cancer immunology, but is pleased to have ended up in a clinical environment close to the patients. 

“Of course, it can be difficult to do high-level research when you spend a lot of time with the patients. But it is absolutely vital that fundamental research – like the research we do here at the centre – and clinical research go hand in hand and inspire each other,” she concludes. 

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