Unique research partnership commences between Dutch and German institutions focused on childhood cancer treatments
Collaboration Aims to Accelerate Childhood Cancer Treatments
The Princess Máxima Center for pediatric oncology in the Netherlands and the Hopp-KiTZ childhood cancer center in Heidelberg, Germany, have joined forces with the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) and Heidelberg University Hospital (UKHD) in a significant step towards curing childhood cancer.
Queen Máxima, as the namesake of the Princess Máxima Center, attended the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the institutes. This collaboration, which requires a joint research budget of more than €10 million for the coming years, aims to accelerate developments toward better treatment options for children with cancer.
Both the Princess Máxima Center and KiTZ are set up as comprehensive cancer centers. The focus of the collaboration includes the development of the latest combinations in the field of immune and targeted therapies for children. The establishment of patient-specific laboratory models is another point of focus for the collaboration.
Clinical studies, the expansion of infrastructures and IT platforms, and the sharing of anonymized patient data for clinical studies are part of the collaboration. Michael Baumann, CEO of the DKFZ, considers the Princess Máxima Center as the best possible partner for a European alliance to cure childhood cancer.
Alexander Eggermont, scientific director of the Princess Máxima Center, emphasizes the uniqueness of the collaboration's aim to accelerate the development of future medicine. Stefan Pfister, one of the directors of the Hopp-KiTZ, highlights the need for significant investments and efforts along the entire innovation chain to improve treatment options for children with cancer.
The collaboration's approach involves a 'twinning program' that promotes openness, sharing, and acceleration at every step of research and implementation. This twinning program is expected to lead to a long-term European alliance between the Princess Máxima Center and the KiTZ, as acknowledged by Michael Baumann.
Cancer in children causes more than 6,000 deaths per year in Europe. The collaboration is hoped to reduce this number significantly by improving treatment options and finding cures for childhood cancer.
This collaboration is seen as a significant step towards curing childhood cancer in the long term. The joint efforts of these renowned institutions are expected to bring about breakthroughs in the field of pediatric oncology, ultimately benefiting children worldwide.
