With patients - for patients

Building a bridge between cancer research and clinical cancer medicine - the National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT) was founded in Heidelberg in 2004 with this goal in mind. Since then, the NCT - a cooperation between the DKFZ, leading partners in university medicine and other outstanding research partners - has grown throughout Germany. The Dresden site was added in 2015, and since 2023 the Berlin, SouthWest (Tübingen-Stuttgart, Ulm), WERA (Würzburg with the partners Erlangen, Regensburg, Augsburg) and West (Cologne and Essen) sites have also been part of the NCT. Three questions for Maria Rius, Scientific Management at the NCT Central Office at the DKFZ.

Ms. Rius, what opportunities does the expansion of the NCT offer?

At the NCT, clinical and research experts work closely together to develop new clinical trials for the diagnosis and treatment of cancer involving patients. To achieve this goal, the NCT sites in Germany cooperate intensively with each other. The sites complement each other and contribute different areas of expertise. The expansion of the NCT thus promotes the exchange of knowledge and the development of better diagnostic procedures and new therapeutic approaches. With this so-called One NCT, we are creating a structure for clinical-translational research that is unique in Germany.

What role do the so-called “Investigator-Initiated Trials” play in this?

Investigator-Initiated Trials are non-commercial, science-driven clinical studies. They play a central role at the NCT, as they are of great importance for clinical research and the improvement of treatment. These studies are not initiated and led by commercial organizations such as pharmaceutical companies, but by the researchers themselves. They specifically design the research questions in a patient-oriented way by actively involving the perspectives and needs of patients right from the conception phase of clinical trials. The NCT enables us to finance these innovative studies.

How important is patient participation at One NCT?

At the NCT, patients are research partners at eye level. Patient participation at One NCT is seen as an integral part of research. Patients are involved in all stages of the research process, from the idea and planning of clinical trials to the evaluation of the results. Their perspectives and experiences help to make cancer research more patient-oriented. To prepare patient representatives well for this role, the Patient Expert Academy for Tumor Diseases, PEAK for short, is an important building block at the NCT. Among other things, the basics of clinical research are taught in practical seminars. The NCT Patient Research Council is the voice of NCT patient participation nationwide and contact for other national self-help and patient organizations. It works closely with the local Patient Research Councils at the NCT sites. The annual conference “Patients as Partners in Cancer Research” strengthens the networking of patient representatives throughout Germany, far beyond the NCT.

The text originally appeared in einblick issue 2/2024.

einblick - The magazine of the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ)

How does cancer develop? Why is it so hard to beat? What can each individual do to prevent it? What new approaches are there and what other scientific questions are being answered by DKFZ researchers?

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