Given the uncertainty of predicting the course of a disease, it is often difficult to say on the basis of uncontrolled clinical observation whether or not a particular treatment will have a favorable effect on a therapeutic outcome. Parents and sick children should not have to rely solely on the personal experience of the treating physician, but on treatment concepts that have been developed in clinical trial research.
Clinical trials are necessary for the development of effective therapies and thus contribute to improving the chances of a cure. They allow affected children and adolescents to participate in scientific progress. Conversely, clinical trials should not be carried out if there is no realistic chance of providing a valid and reliable answer to a well-defined medical question!
The treatment of children and adolescents with cancer is therefore closely linked to the conduct of clinical trials. Most of our patients are treated according to the therapy optimization studies or the disease-specific registries of the Society for Pediatric Oncology and Hematology (GPOH). For some GPOH trials and registries, the management and coordination is based in our Clinical Department.
As an accredited ITCC center (Innovative Therapies for Children with Cancer), we also supervise phase I - IV clinical trials.
The study office supports the physicians in the organizational implementation of the various studies.
