The decisive factor for survival

We find the optimal route to treatment

What distinguishes us as a competent and reliable partner? What does our hospital do to offer the best possible treatment for breast cancer? The most important arguments for treatment in Heidelberg:

1. The certified Breast Center is integrated with the National Center for Tumor Diseases. The combination of research and treatment enables us today to apply new and promising medications, still denied at many other hospital, within clinical studies. Thus, our patients have higher life expectancies with shorter hospital stays.
2. Thanks to the most modern technology, we can offer highly precise diagnostics and develop a very focused treatment plan.
3. We generally determine the aggressiveness of the cancer prior to an operation. Initial chemotherapy is also usually given before surgery - it shrinks the tumor and reduces the risk of spread.
4. Whenever the disease permits, we operate with minimally-invasive techniques. Above all, for our patients this means less pain from the wound, and fewer scars.
5. When possible, we perform breast-sparing surgery. Should it be necessary to remove the breast (mastectomy), many breast reconstruction options are available.
6. We do not perform maximal-radical surgery. We specifically dye the sentinel nodes of the lymphatic system using a special process, and can see whether and which lymph nodes are already affected by cancer. Only the affected nodes are then removed, and the others are preserved.

Our Treatment Concepts

Medical Therapy and Surgery

The treatment for every woman with invasive breast cancer rests on two pillars - surgery/radiation and systemic treatment with chemotherapy, hormone therapy, or antibody therapy. The importance of systemic therapy has increased considerably in recent years. We treat 30 to 40 percent of patients systemically prior to surgery today.

Using predictive tests, we consider how effective a particular therapy will be for each patient and decide together the best treatment strategy. We make our decision above all considering maximal effectiveness, minimal side effects and best possible quality of life for each individual. 

Our Tumor Boards

Treatment Concepts and Interdisciplinary Case Conferences

If the findings are positive, our interdisciplinary medical team discusses the diagnostic and pathologic results in the tumor board. In a conference usually comprised of around ten experts, each patient is individually introduced with all diagnostic findings. The Executive Medical Director of the University Women's Hospital stressed the importance of these conferences: 

Experienced experts from the fields of diagnostic, operative, and systemic therapies as well as pathology and radiation therapy are always present at the tumor conferences. The results will be put in writing and discussed with the patient. We have more than 700 new patients per year. In this way, we identify the optimal treatment process, and this is a key determinant for survival.