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Research on cancer has entered an exciting new period. New discoveries have created a better understanding of mechanisms underlying tumor development, resulting in new approaches for the diagnosis, treatment, early detection, and prevention of cancer. With greater availability of molecular therapies, identification of individual molecular alterations for the individual patient will increasingly direct treatment decisions in personalized oncology.

Cancer research at National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT) Heidelberg accelerates this process by facilitating the transfer of knowledge from the laboratory to the clinic. NCT integrates and supports all clinical and translational research activities of the German Cancer Research Center and the Heidelberg University Hospital. DKFZ’s many scientific disciplines and interactions, including strategic partnerships with university medical centers and industry, provide a strong framework for NCT projects. NCT is the clinical pipeline for all translational research of DKFZ, and has full access to its excellent research infrastructure and resources.

Six NCT Translational Research Areas have been defined as translational extensions of the other main DKFZ research topics. NCT’s mission is to translate results in these areas into diagnostic (e.g. HPV and cervical carcinoma, stratification), therapeutic and preventive clinical trials for maximal patient benefit. Strategic partnerships between DKFZ and Heidelberg University Hospital scientists and clinicians, often with the pharmaceutical and local Biotech industry, make NCT a strong focus for projects in applied cancer research (e.g. Cancer Genome, Angiogenesis, Molecular Immunology, Signaling, Cancer Stem Cells, Systems Biology).

Cross-sectional NCT Core Services, including the NCT Trial Center, NCT Tissue Bank, and NCT Cancer Registry, provide support and resources for the NCT research programs.

It is NCT’s overall aim to individualize treatment decisions by reaching across traditional disciplines and academic departments, unifying into a personalized oncology that is adapted to the specific needs of each single patient.