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ePaper created 2014-04-30, 16:22:09 | version 1.30.01
discovered 02 .13 Panorama WWW.Hzdr.DE _Text . Christine Bohnet & Holger Ostermeyer | Photos . OncoRay/Matthias Rietschel & André Wirsig New abode for excellence in research // Going forward, some 150 physicians and scientists will be working alongside each other on the future of radiation therapy in the new building of the National Center for Radiation Research in Oncology – OncoRay. Patient services to begin in 2014 The goal of every form of radiation therapy is to eradicate the tumor tissue or at least damage it to such an extent that it is no longer capable of proliferating uncontrollably. Until now, it was mostly ultrahard X-rays that were used for this purpose. In contrast, the main advantage of charged particles like protons is that they give off relatively little energy as they make their way to the tumor site while unfolding their full potential only once they have actually made it to the malignant tissue. Therapists are able to fashion the proton beam in such a way as to ensure the protons inflict as little damage as possible to the healthy tissues in the tumor’s immediate vicinity. However, it is imperative to evaluate the medical benefits of this considerably more costly form of cancer treatment on a tumor- by-tumor basis compared with currently used forms of radiation therapy. This will soon also be the case in Dresden – as part of elaborate, strictly controlled clinical trials. As early as 2014, the first groups of patients are scheduled for treatment in the new OncoRay building. Smiling faces Since the Free State of Saxony had provided funding for the building as part of an EU-backed State Excellence Initiative, Minister President Stanislaw Tillich (center) personally attended the festive inauguration ceremony on September 17, 2013. "The research center is an important poster child for Saxony as a biomedical technology hub. Many hands are pulling together in the fight against cancer to make radiation therapy ever more successful while sparing the surrounding healthy tissues," he said. Seen here in front are Federal Minister of Research Johanna Wanka (fourth from the right), Saxony’s Minister President Tillich, Helmholtz Association President Jürgen Mlynek, as well as Saxony’s Minister of Research Sabine von Schorlemer, OncoRay Director Michael Baumann, the Mayor of Dresden Helma Orosz, the University Hospital’s Scientific Director Michael Albrecht, and the HZDR’s Scientific Director Roland Sauerbrey (from right to left). As it were, many joined hands to give the starting signal for the proton accelerator at its new abode.