Our institute

Our mission

Our main mission is to fight against cancer:

• by guaranteeing patients complete and optimal quality care
• by developing cutting-edge research in oncology and facilitating exchanges between clinicians and scientists
• by training the doctors and researchers of tomorrow

As part of a general hospital, we treat not only the tumor but the patient as a whole. Patients can therefore be sure that all the elements involved in their state of health are taken into account, and they benefit from the expertise of all the specialists working at Cliniques universitaires Saint-Luc. Each patient's medical file is computerized and directly available in its entirety to each doctor. This sharing of information and proximity ensures perfect communication between the various caregivers.

In the fight against cancer, the patient is at the center of our teams' concerns. They put their expertise and knowledge acquired in various university fields at their service, while always paying special attention to the human aspect of care.

With this in mind, we have created a function that is still unique in Belgium, the Nurse Coordinator of Oncology Care (CSO). The CSO guarantees rigorous care and accompanies the patient throughout his or her treatment; he or she plays a key role in providing information and support to the patient and his or her family. The CSO also ensures perfect coordination between the various parties involved. 

Over the years, the King Albert II Institute of the Cliniques Universitaires Saint-Luc has organized itself in order to offer optimal care to patients. Here are some of its specific features:

An expertise

Heir to a tradition of excellence and innovation, the King Albert II Institute of the Cliniques universitaires Saint-Luc is the leader in cancer treatment in the French-speaking Community of Belgium in terms of the number of patients treated each year. It is the only Belgian center that treats all types of cancer in adults and children. This gives its specialists extensive expertise in the care of cancer patients.

A global hospital

The King Albert II Institute is fully integrated into the Cliniques universitaires Saint-Luc. This means that any patient treated at the King Albert II Institute is guaranteed to receive comprehensive care, taking into account all the elements involved in their state of health.
For example, a patient being treated for cancer and also suffering from diabetes is treated in a comprehensive manner: he or she benefits from the expertise of both the doctors treating the cancer and the diabetologists on site. In addition, he is assured of perfect communication between all the caregivers, which guarantees that they are all fully aware of all the elements of his medical file..

A human approach to care

In order to guarantee optimal quality care for all patients, the King Albert II Institute has created a unique position in Belgium: the position of oncology care coordinator nurse (CSO). The CSO accompanies the patient throughout his or her treatment and plays a key role in informing and supporting the patient and his or her family. The CSO also ensures perfect coordination between the various parties involved.
The announcement of a cancer can plunge the patient and his family into a situation of distress. The support of a psychologist will be offered to them. The psychologist can intervene at each stage of the disease.

A multidisciplinary approach

To ensure the best possible care, it is important that all specialists involved in the diagnosis and treatment of the patient meet beforehand to define the modalities.
The King Albert II Institute of the Cliniques Universitaires Saint Luc has several multidisciplinary groups, which cover all types of cancer and which, as their name indicates, are composed of specialists from several disciplines: oncologists, hematologists, radiotherapists, internists, surgeons, radiologists, anatomopathologists and geneticists. Each group is specialized in a type of cancer (e.g., the "Breast Tumor" group).
Each patient's case is discussed individually and specifically during these multidisciplinary meetings, which guarantees optimal management and personalized treatment, based on the expertise of the multidisciplinary group, the international literature and the latest scientific advances in diagnostic and therapeutic tools.

A university character

The King Albert II Institute is an integral part of the Cliniques Universitaires Saint-Luc, whose fundamental academic mission is threefold: to ensure the best quality of care, to develop cutting-edge research and to provide excellent teaching.
All these activities are grouped together on the same site, guaranteeing optimal interaction between the various players. This close collaboration between researchers and clinicians allows us to develop new therapies to improve the prevention, treatment and cure of cancer. Our patients are the first to benefit from this proximity and these exchanges.

An intense research activity

The King Albert II Institute actively participates in cancer research, through the laboratories and clinical studies that the doctors direct.
A specificity of university hospitals that are directly linked to a faculty of medicine, fundamental research is carried out in the laboratory.
At the Université Catholique de Louvain (UCL), on the Woluwé site, several laboratories are devoted exclusively to the search for new remedies against cancer.
The ICP (Christian de Duve Institute of Cellular Pathology), an international biomedical research institute, is located on this site. It hosts, among others, the Brussels branch of the Ludwig Institute, whose laboratories have acquired an international reputation in cancer research.
Clinical research offers patients the opportunity to test new molecules or combinations of molecules before they are put on the market. These are clinical trials proposed by the pharmaceutical industry but also studies initiated by the clinicians of the King Albert II Institute.
The aim of these trials is twofold: on the one hand, to offer patients the most recent treatments, and on the other, to advance research in the fight against cancer.
Thus, we offer patients the opportunity to benefit from the latest treatments developed.

At the forefront of innovation

Men's

Over the years, we have created a network of many internationally renowned hospitals and cancer centers.
Many doctors are regularly sent abroad to perfect their medical knowledge, to learn new surgical techniques or to familiarize themselves with new technologies, which keeps the King Albert II Institute of Saint Luke at the forefront of the latest developments.

The new technologies

We are constantly investing in new equipment to not only provide the best patient care but also to advance research.
Among our latest acquisitions is the Hi Art Tomotherapy, a true revolution in radiotherapy, which was one of the very first machines installed in Europe and the first to be operational in French-speaking Belgium. It allows us to treat the least accessible tumors with extreme precision.
We should also note a new PET-CT, of the latest generation, which allows us to offer an optimal assessment for the treatment of certain types of cancer.

CHIP (Intra-Peritoneal Chemotherapy) is a recent technique for patients with colorectal cancer. It consists of administering chemotherapy at the end of the surgical procedure during which the organs affected by the cancer were removed. This technique, which involves some 20 different professions, improves the prognosis of patients suffering from advanced colorectal cancer.

Finally, in the laboratories, a specific mapping of each tumor is carried out in order to determine the possible hereditary risk of certain cancers and the interest of specific targeted treatments.

Fertility preservation and cancer treatments

Cancer treatments, regardless of the location of the tumor, are sometimes deleterious to women's fertility. Cryopreservation of ovarian tissue performed at the King Albert II Institute allows to overcome this inconvenience. It consists of taking a fragment of ovary and freezing it before starting the anticancer treatment that could be harmful to fertility. At the end of this treatment, the ovarian fragment is re-implanted by laparoscopy. To learn more about this technique.

Wellness area

Supporting our patients in order to improve their quality of life is the objective of the King Albert II Institute's Wellness Area.

Patients can benefit from various services, such as the advice and care of a beautician, a massage therapist, consult our library or participate in various "well-being" activities. 

The staff of the King Albert II Institute and the Cliniques universitaires Saint-Luc are mobilizing against cancer.

Consult here the Organization chart of King Albert II Institute ant the organization chart of the Cliniques Universitaires Saint Luc

Our consultants

Prof. Michel Symann, Professor Emeritus at the Faculty of Medicine of the UCL, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Foundation against Cancer, Advisor to the King Albert II Institute of the Cliniques universitaires Saint-Luc.

The Scientific Council of the King Albert II Institute is composed of  :

• Prof. Pierre Gianello, President of the Scientific Council and Coordinator of Research at the Health Sciences Sector (UCL).
• Prof. Vincent Grégoire, Clinical Professor at the Faculty of Medicine of the UCL, Member of the Management College of the King Albert II Institute of the Cliniques Universitaires Saint-Luc, Coordinator of the Cervical-Maxillofacial Oncology Clinic, President of the European Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology (ESTRO), President-elect of the Radiotherapy group of the EORTC.
• Prof. Marc Hamoir, Ordinary Clinical Professor at the Faculty of Medicine of the UCL, Associate Head of the Department of Otolaryngology of the Cliniques Universitaires St Luc, President of the Management College of the King Albert II Institute of the Cliniques Universitaires St Luc, Coordinator of the Cervical-Maxillofacial Oncology Clinic, Secretary of the FNRS Head and Neck contact group.
• Prof. Pierre Coulie Professor, Ordinary Professor at the Institut de Duve (UCL)

PROFESSIONALS

• 16 multidisciplinary groups
• 140 doctors
• a hundred nurses and paramedics

RESEARCH

• more than 200 protocols permanently open
• One phase 1 clinical trials unit (Breakthrough therapies)

TECHNOLOGY

• 4 linear gas pedals (2 Tomotherapy (Accuray), one Halcyon (Varian), one Infinity (Elekta))
• 1 Pet CT

2022 DATA:

• New patients: 2910
• Inpatient admissions: 
• Day Hospitals: 23271
• Radiotherapy treatments: 1334
• Brachytherapy treatments: 93