Medical oncology at the Faculty of Medicine in Tübingen specializes in the treatment of advanced tumour diseases. To this end, specialists not only use all available cancer therapies, but also develop new innovative forms of treatment. The aim is to use the resulting combination therapies to sustainably improve the prognosis and quality of life of cancer patients.
The Tübingen site plays an important pioneering role throughout Germany due to its unique networking of essential specialist areas of cancer research. In functional target identification and molecular tumor therapy, scientists are researching the complex physiology of tumor cells. In immunotherapy, they are looking for innovative approaches to activate the body's own defense system in the fight against tumor cells. And in molecular and functional multiparametric imaging, they want to achieve the quantifiable visualization of functional, molecular and immunological mechanisms of tumours. All research areas are equipped with state-of-the-art technology and work closely with specialists from the field of artificial intelligence.
The findings from the specialist areas can be transferred directly into application thanks to the translational focus and thus contribute to the development of new drugs. This enables excellent patient care. The focus is particularly on soft tissue sarcomas, bone tumors, gastrointestinal stromal tumors, neuroendocrine neoplasms, NUT carcinomas and numerous other solid tumor diseases.
Oncology
Senescence
Research into senescence at the Tübingen Medical Faculty plays a leading role internationally. The experts not only have many years of experience in the research field, but can also draw on a broad network of specialists from other disciplines. This results in innovative projects, new research approaches and groundbreaking findings that are of crucial importance for cancer therapy. Among other things, the world's first PET tracer, which can be used to detect senescent tumor cells, was developed in Tübingen.
New therapeutics
Many diseases are caused by defects in the genetic material, such as muscular dystrophy, congenital anemia and immune deficiencies. Healing is possible by repairing these errors. With the help of modern methods, such as gene replacement therapy, genome editing or oligonucleotide therapy, mutated genes can be repaired or inactivated. Cancer cell-destroying (oncolytic) viruses are also used in the treatment of cancer.
Rare diseases
The special characteristics of rare diseases require specialized know-how and multi-professional cooperation. The close connection between research and patient care as well as the international network of the University Hospital means that patients in Tübingen can receive the best possible support. The network of experts has particular expertise in the diagnosis and treatment of ultra-rare diseases as well as genetic therapies, which it also makes available as part of a training academy.
Imaging
In addition to Germany's only oncology cluster of excellence, "Image-Guided and Functionally Instructed Tumor Therapies (iFIT)", the Werner Siemens Imaging Center (WSIC) is also located at the Medical Faculty of the University of Tübingen as an important partner in the field of imaging. Researchers there work with state-of-the-art equipment: 3 PET scanners, 2 MRIs as well as an intravital microscope and a light sheet microscope can be found under one roof. The combination of micro- and macroscopic imaging methods enables a deeper understanding of how cancer therapies work and thus the development of new concepts for improvement. Other research goals of the WSIC include the integration of machine learning to further develop multi-scale imaging methods and the research of degenerative neuronal diseases - basic research with the aim of making the knowledge gained usable for clinical applications.