Prof. Dr. Dirk Jäger is Managing Director of the National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT) Heidelberg and Medical Director of the Medical Oncology Department at Heidelberg University Hospital (UKHD). The Department of Medical Oncology (Medical Clinic VI) is part of the Center for Internal Medicine at the UKHD and a core area of the NCT Heidelberg.
Patients and doctors initially meet for the first time at the tumor board. Some of the consultations take place with a number of doctors from various disciplines, as part of entity-specific clinical cancer programs. This calls for close cooperation of all disciplines, but it also guarantees optimal care for the patient.
The specialists in every cancer program define specific algorithms for each tumor entity (Standard Operating Procedures, SOPs), which are used for all patients diagnosed and treated at the NCT. In interdisciplinary tumor conferences, we work on individual therapy concepts for patients who can not be treated with an SOP, possibly due to emergence of a second tumor, having exhausted the current standard therapy, or in a relapse situation. The referring physician is always informed about any recommendations. Wherever appropriate, patients are encouraged to take part in clinical studies.
If medicative therapy such as chemotherapy or immunotherapy is necessary, this can very often be administered in the outpatient clinic.
The application takes place in the day care units (Tagesklinik I and II). The day care units are open Monday to Friday between 8 am and 4 pm.
