Cancer

Hardly any diagnosis is feared as much as cancer. Yet cancer research has made significant progress in recent years which has considerably improved the diagnosis and treatment of many clinical syndromes. However, many questions have still not been answered, or have not been sufficiently answered.

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In spite of new findings, new medical drugs and the introduction of early recognition programmes, cancer continues to be a major challenge for research. Besides the further development of the diagnosis and therapy processes used to date (such as radiation and chemotherapy), the focus of BMBF funding is on the development of fundamentally new methods of healing. Approaches include, for example, stimulating the body's resistance to malignant cells.

The BMBF supports cancer research in different areas. Three out of 17 BMBF-funded Competence Networks in Medicine are dealing with cancer:

• paediatric oncology and haematology,
• malignant lymphomas, and
• acute and chronic leukaemias.

The leading research and care institutions in the respective fields in Germany have grouped together to develop new forms of therapy in a coordinated and cooperative research programme, on the one hand, and to realize a rapid translation of research results in the field of care on the other.

The competence networks receive funding for up to nine years - all in all, the networks on cancer will receive about 41 million Euro. After the end of BMBF funding, they should be self-sufficient and acquire third party funds for their work.

Breast cancer is the most frequent cause of death from cancer in women, accounting for about 20% of cancer mortality. For the women affected, the illness causes great suffering, but also considerable uncertainty. Many women are given contradictory recommendations on early recognition, diagnosis and therapy. The BMBF has therefore initiated greater scientific efforts in this field and is providing funding of 6.4 million Euro. The most important aim of the collaborations which are receiving funding is the further development of patient-oriented, clinical and care-relevant breast cancer research. A close networking of the people concerned, interdisciplinary exchanges and an interlinkage between research and care strengthens the absolutely necessary interdisciplinary approach in breast cancer research. Furthermore, it speeds up the transfer of knowledge and results into practice and helps to develop measures for quality assurance.

The BMBF is funding three genome networks within the framework of the National Genome Research Network (NGFN). These are dealing, inter alia, with leukaemia (cancer of the blood), breast cancer and cancer of the intestines, but also with brain tumours and cancer in children. These trans-regional research collaborations study disease processes by means of functional genome research, and thus identify new approaches to the development of effective therapeutic strategies and new diagnostic procedures. The BMBF will make about 35 million Euro available for functional genome research into cancer up to mid 2008.

An important pillar of cancer research in Germany is the Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum in Heidelberg, which receives institutional funding from the BMBF. Other institutions are also funded and make major contributions to clarifying the causes of cancer and developing new therapies.

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