Professor Dr. Clemens A. Schmitt, JKU Faculty of Medicine, remarked: "Our society is continually aging and cancer will remain a leading health problem and risk of death." Although the number of cancer diagnoses is on the rise, improved diagnostics can now detect tumors earlier and medical treatments can begin sooner.

New Treatment Options Thanks to Modern Research
The individual molecular tumor blueprint is becoming more of a diagnostic focus as this information can potentially be used to create "tailor-made" approaches in targeted treatment. Using special staining techniques, specific tumor tissue markers are determined depending on the type of cancer. With the help of mutations, frequent, so-called "next-generation" sequencing methods are often used to detect gene changes in the tumor cells. These gene changes affect normal genes, turning them into tumor-growth drivers and become potential target structures for modern treatment based on the "key-lock" principle.

One of these initial, targeted therapies involves an active substance used at the Kepler University Hospital designed to attack the driver mutation in a certain type of blood cancer. The medication is highly effective and this disease, once fatal and difficult to treat, is no longer detectable in most patients.

Although these prospects are very promising, JKU cancer expert Schmitt warns against premature euphoria, emphasizing that successful cancer treatments are still at the very beginning stages of development. KUK will provide an overview of this and other approaches at the symposium on Saturday, February 1, from 10.00 AM to 2.00 PM. There is no charge to attend.

Location: Kepler University Hospital, Education Center at Med Campus V., Multipurpose Hall / Krankenhausstraße 26-30, 4020 Linz