Patient involvement in cancer research can also be entertaining – Serious and joyful insights at the third Patient Expert Conference in Dresden

Learning, changing, cooperating – the key themes of the Patient Expert Conference "Patients as Partners in Cancer Research" were once again brought to life from September 20 to 22. Patient representatives and scientists from all over Germany gathered this year in Dresden. The third conference of its kind was organized by the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) and hosted by the National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT). The 170 participants were offered a wide range of formats for exchange and learning experiences, from lectures and panel discussions to a Science Slam and workshops.

In Germany, the importance of patient involvement had long been underestimated. However, this changed significantly with the National Decade Against Cancer, an initiative by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research. The expansion of the NCT from two to six locations in 2023 has significantly promoted the active involvement of patients in cancer research. The NCT is a long-term collaboration between the DKFZ, excellent partners in university medicine, and other outstanding research partners at various locations in Germany.

At the heart of the work at the NCT are the patients: The NCT's Patient Research Councils are involved from the very beginning in the development and design of cancer studies. The close collaboration between scientists, physicians, and patients was impressively demonstrated at the conference.

A highlight was the Science Slam by Marco Gustav (TU Dresden), who, as a scientist, showed that cancer research and artificial intelligence not only work together in a promising and innovative way but also provide entertaining moments. The topic of AI ran like a common thread through other lectures, discussions, and workshops. Patient representatives also learned how important AI has become for the standardization, data collection, and analysis, and thus for the entire digital future of cancer research.

Gereon Mänzel from the Patient Research Council NCT Dresden emphasized at the end of the conference: "We want the voice of patients to become a guiding principle for research. We not only reaffirmed this goal at our conference, but we have also realized that we have already grown beyond it. Many partners now see us as a natural part of cancer research."