The expansion of the National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT) is an important part of the National Decade against Cancer initiated by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). The goal of the NCT is to quickly and safely transfer promising results from cancer research into clinical application. This should give patients nationwide access to innovative treatment approaches. To expand patient participation in Germany, partnership between patients and researchers is firmly implemented at the NCT. The aim is to take the patient's perspective into account in all phases of cancer research.
Expansion of the NCT to six locations
Strengthening cancer research
Signature in Heidelberg
Heidelberg has been the first NCT location since 2004, with Dresden as the second location since 2015. On February 2, 2023, the BMBF announced the new locations – Berlin, South-West (Tübingen-Stuttgart/Ulm), WERA (Würzburg with the partners Erlangen, Regensburg and Augsburg) and West (Essen/Cologne). This means that a total of six NCT locations are now cooperating with the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) with the aim of sustainably advancing cutting-edge clinical cancer research in Germany and thereby improving the treatment outcomes and quality of life of cancer patients. The federal-state administrative agreement to expand the NCT to six locations was signed in Heidelberg on November 24, 2023.