High distinction in cancer medicine: German Cancer Aid names the Comprehensive Cancer Center Lower Saxony (CCC-N) a Top Oncology Center. The award is accompanied by funding of three million euros, spread over four years. This makes the CCC-N one of 14 Oncology Centers of Excellence in Germany.

Status: February 03, 2021

(umg/mhh) The Comprehensive Cancer Center Niedersachsen (CCC-N) is being funded by German Cancer Aid as an Oncological Center of Excellence. This decision was announced by German Cancer Aid (DKH) today, February 3, 2021. The CCC-N was only founded jointly by Hannover Medical School (MHH) and Göttingen University Medical Center (UMG) in November 2019. With this award, the international reviewers and experts of the DKH have certified that the cancer specialists at the CCC-N treat cancer patients at the highest medical level and according to the latest scientific findings, thus contributing to comprehensive and optimal care for these patients throughout Lower Saxony. In addition, the participating Facilities or Institutions of the CCC Lower Saxony are continuously developing new innovative cancer diagnostics and therapies as well as standards for care processes, which they pass on to all participating cooperation partners in the network.

"This award is the greatest possible recognition for the successful development work over the past two and a half years. The CCC Lower Saxony thus belongs to the 'premier class' in German cancer medicine and closes a significant gap in care in Lower Saxony. In contrast to all other top centers, we are a very young CCC and yet we were able to convince with our ideas and concepts," says Prof. Dr. Volker Ellenrieder, spokesperson of the CCC Lower Saxony. "We are delighted that German Cancer Aid has positively assessed the high-quality and innovative care of our patients as well as the excellent cancer research at the CCC-N. This award motivates us for the future," says Ellenrieder.

Lower Saxony's Minister for Science and Culture Björn Thümler praised the joint project of UMG and MHH: "The appointment as a Center of Excellence is great news for Lower Saxony and underlines our successful work. As Minister of Science, I have accompanied and supported this path from the very beginning. The German Cancer Aid confirms the importance and potential of the CCC Lower Saxony with the Institutions and funding of an Oncology Center of Excellence. The young center of excellence opens up new perspectives for all cancer patients and gives them hope. Cancer is the second most common cause of death worldwide - we must devote our full attention to it." Minister Thümler continued: "Another important step towards strengthening oncology in Lower Saxony and promoting exchange in cancer research and treatment is the establishment of the State Advisory Board for Oncology, which we have launched."

German Cancer Aid has been supporting the establishment of centers and networks in cancer medicine with its own funding program since 2007. The aim is to treat cancer patients throughout Germany at the highest level and with uniform quality standards. The award is associated with funding of 750,000 euros per year over four years. German Cancer Aid currently supports a total of 14 centers of excellence in oncology throughout Germany. These centers are organized in the CCC network with the aim of improving oncological patient care and clinical cancer research in terms of both structure and content. Each funded CCC is regularly reviewed to ensure that it meets the specified performance and quality targets.

• An interview (video) with Professor Hillemanns, Director of the CCC Hannover, can be found here.

Gerd Nettekoven, Chairman of the Executive Board of German Cancer Aid, emphasizes: "With this new CCC consortium, German Cancer Aid aims to further develop its Comprehensive Cancer Center initiative, which was launched almost 14 years ago, to further shape the care structures and thus strengthen and continuously improve the care of cancer patients in the two large regions of Göttingen and Hanover. The CCC-N is the first CCC structure in Lower Saxony. We are very pleased about this and are convinced that everyone will benefit from it. Patients in particular, but also physicians and scientists. It is important for us that the two sites will also contribute their respective strengths in research to an overall strategic concept in order to achieve synergies in many areas."

• The video message from Gerd Nettekoven, Chairman of the Executive Board of German Cancer Aid, can be found here.

Joining forces for the benefit of patients

"When two strong medical Facilities or Institutions join forces, this directly benefits patients. The CCC-N combines the entire expertise in the treatment and research of cancer in Lower Saxony. With the award from German Cancer Aid, we can continue to consistently pursue our goal of providing cancer patients in Lower Saxony with the best possible therapy and opening up new treatment options for them in a timely manner," says Prof. Dr. Michael Manns, President of Hannover Medical School (MHH).

"The requirements of German Cancer Aid for an Oncology Center of Excellence are extremely demanding. We are delighted to have received this award together with the MHH today. It is the result of a convincing and broad-based bundling of university and clinical expertise in oncology at the highest level. Together with the regional oncology care partners, the CCC-Lower Saxony offers people in Lower Saxony and the respective region an optimal range of care. The development of a joint, comprehensive data basis deepens our knowledge of all aspects of oncological care," says Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Brück, spokesperson of the Executive Board of the University Medical Center Göttingen.

Pooling expertise in the CCC Lower Saxony

The CCC Lower Saxony was founded in November 2019 by the MHH and UMG and bundles interdisciplinary cancer research and expertise in patient care in Lower Saxony under the motto "Precision and care in cancer research and treatment". The network brings together all the expertise of the respective Facilities or Institutions and their cooperation partners. This includes all certified oncology centers in Lower Saxony, 23 organ cancer centers certified by the German Cancer Society and 16 cooperation clinics. Every year, the CCC Lower Saxony treats 15,000 cancer patients at the MHH and UMG sites. This means that around half of all newly diagnosed cancer patients in Lower Saxony are now treated in certified centers.

One of the main tasks is the interdisciplinary care of cancer patients. The interdisciplinary tumor conferences play an important role here: in these conferences, highly qualified cancer specialists from the participating disciplines discuss the respective treatment concepts for each patient and jointly determine an individual treatment plan. There are currently a total of 24 weekly tumor conferences at the MHH and UMG CCC-N sites, in which up to more than 8,000 case decisions are made each year. Another important area of expertise at the CCC-N is the diagnosis and treatment of rare tumor diseases for which there are no guideline recommendations. Such cases are discussed in molecular tumor conferences, which were established at the two CCC-N sites in Göttingen and Hanover in 2019.

Precision oncology - new treatment options for cancer

"In addition to the care of cancer patients, cancer research is an essential field of activity of the CCC Lower Saxony," emphasizes Prof. Dr. Peter Hillemanns, deputy spokesperson of the CCC-N. Translational research is a particular focus here: the aim is to transfer current research findings as quickly as possible into direct patient care. This requires close integration between research and the Clinical Department.

A particular research focus of the CCC Lower Saxony is genome dynamics and immune regulation in treatment resistance. The two sites have pooled their many years of expertise in order to gain a better molecular understanding of resistance and to develop therapeutic strategies to overcome this resistance.

Other key areas of research at the CCC-N include artificial intelligence, immunotherapy, cancer infections and imaging diagnostics. The scientists at the CCC Niedersachsen are closely networked with local, national and international research institutions.

Supporting services at the CCC-N

One of the main tasks of the CCC Niedersachsen is to improve or maintain the quality of life of patients and their relatives. In addition to the best possible medical expertise, a wide range of supportive therapy measures are available. These include psycho-oncology, physiotherapy, social counseling, nutritional counseling, palliative medicine and cooperation with self-help groups. These are organized in the CCC-N in a patient advisory board and advise the board of directors.

The CCC-N is also significantly involved in the further education and training of medical staff and the training of medical students. All of the CCC-N's activities are coordinated under the umbrella of the OnkoAkademie and developed specifically for the individual target groups. Regular seminars and lectures are held for patients, relatives and interested parties.

A strong network for the region

The CCC Lower Saxony currently has 16 cooperation partners, including hospitals, specialists in private practice and rehabilitation facilities. This structure makes it possible to provide cancer patients with a high level of medical care in the region. Cancer patients throughout Lower Saxony thus benefit from joint tumor boards, joint standard operating procedures (SOPs), interdisciplinary consultation hours, the possibility of second opinions, access to studies, regional study networks, tumor documentation, the clinical cancer registry as well as further education and training opportunities in this strong network.

Oncological centers of excellence

Since 2007, German Cancer Aid has been offering a program to promote and initiate "Oncological Centers of Excellence" in Germany with the aim of providing comprehensive patient care at the highest medical level and in accordance with the latest oncological knowledge. The centers of excellence are regularly assessed by an international commission of experts according to strict quality criteria. They are a fundamental part of a comprehensive, three-stage program that was developed together with the German Cancer Society. In addition to the centers of excellence, the German Cancer Society certifies the following on the second levelOncology centersand, as a third level, organ cancer centers. These structures are intended to ensure that cancer patients in Germany are treated and cared for according to uniform, high quality standards.

A fact sheet on the Comprehensive Cancer Center Niedersachsen (CCC-N) can be found here.

FURTHER INFORMATION:

On the Internet at www.ccc-niedersachsen.eu

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