Central German Cancer Centre remains a leading centre for cancer care

World-class cancer care for patients in Central Germany remains assured: following a positive assessment by an international panel of experts, the Central German Cancer Centre has once again been awarded funding as a centre of excellence in oncology. German Cancer Aid is providing 4.8 million euros for this purpose over the next four years. The Central German Cancer Centre (Comprehensive Cancer Centre Central Germany, CCCG) is run by the University Cancer Centre at Leipzig University Hospital (UCCL) and the University Tumour Centre at Jena University Hospital (JUH). In total, German Cancer Aid currently supports 14 leading oncology centres (Comprehensive Cancer Centres) across Germany. The Central German Cancer Centre has been one of them since 2023.

The alliance of the oncology centres at the University Hospitals of Leipzig and Jena, established in 2019, has been funded by German Cancer Aid as a centre of excellence in oncology since January 2023. It is the first of the 14 centres of excellence for cancer medicine nationwide to operate across state borders. The aim is to provide a central point of contact for patients, offering modern, interdisciplinary treatment with the rapid integration of innovative research findings into clinical practice. As a result, this ensures the best possible cancer care for people in the region. The latest positive assessment demonstrates that this is being achieved:

»The fact that we will continue to receive funding as a centre of excellence in oncology for the coming years is, for us, the highest recognition of our work,« says Prof. Florian Lordick, Director of the University Cancer Centre at Leipzig University HospitalExternal link and Chair of the CCCG. »It also shows that, with our focus in recent years on cancer prevention and cancer survivorship—that is, the scientific support and clinical care of cancer survivors—we are able to make an important contribution to cancer medicine as a whole.«

Prof. Andreas Hochhaus, spokesperson for the University Cancer Centre at Jena University HospitalExternal link and a member of the CCCG Executive Board, emphasises: »We are delighted that we have once again been successful and continue to be included in the German Cancer Aid funding programme. This will significantly advance, amongst other things, one of our current milestones: using personalised oncology to offer patients the best possible—and, above all, tailor-made—treatment, which is constantly updated to reflect the latest scientific knowledge through research and innovation?«

Consortium with over 140 partner institutions

As a leading oncology centre, the Cancer Centre works closely with hospitals in the region, GPs and rehabilitation facilities to ensure and jointly develop integrated care structures and processes. The CCCG consortium now comprises more than 140 partner institutions in the Central German region, including representatives from all levels of care. Through patient advisory boards and partnerships with self-help groups, patients and their affiliates are also directly involved in the work of the Cancer Centre, contributing their perspectives to the evaluation and development of services and procedures.

Each year, the Centre of Excellence treats and provides an advisory service to more than 24,000 patients with cancer at its two sites in Leipzig and Jena. In addition to access to over 600 ongoing clinical trials in cancer medicine, patients also have access to state-of-the-art methods of personalised therapy and diagnostics. In certain cases, this also includes diagnosis and treatment planning within the molecular tumour board. There, potential individualised treatment strategies are assessed and developed based on the genetic characteristics of the respective tumour. This covers the entire spectrum of modern cancer medicine, ranging from gentle radiotherapy procedures and immunotherapies to the use of CAR-T cell therapies. In this process, the patient’s own T cells are isolated and genetically modified so that they can recognise and destroy the cancer cells.

About the CCCG Central German Cancer Centre

Since 2019, under the umbrella of the Central German Cancer CentreExternal link (Comprehensive Cancer Centre Central Germany, CCCG), the University Hospitals of Leipzig and Jena, together with the Faculties of Medicine at both sites and partners from the regional network, have been working on the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, aftercare and research into cancer. The overarching structure of the Central German Cancer Centre ensures that synergies can be created and that patients always have access to the best possible treatment for their needs. Since 2023, the Central German Cancer Centre has been one of the 14 nationwide centres of excellence in oncology funded by German Cancer Aid. It is the first centre for excellence in cancer care to span multiple federal states.