Summary of the ONCORAY® strategy concept

OncoRay, the “Center for Radiation Research in Oncology” represents a new, future-oriented research effort in the field of radiation research in oncology, building on the international reputation and extensive research infrastructure of the Dresden group. The Focus and Strategy of OncoRay are aimed at the practical need for preclinical and clinical translational research in radiation oncology.

OncoRay's Vision is to improve the treatment of cancer by means of biologically individualised, technically optimised radiotherapy. Radiotherapy has proven itself as a highly effective method of treating the primary tumor, which can often be completely cured with the result that for many disease sites metastatic cancer, which usually represents the final, fatal stage of the disease, can be avoided. In contrast to other treatment modalities, radiotherapy offers precise spatial distribution of the treatment to individual patients. For these reasons, a replacement is unlikely in the foreseeable future. On the contrary, in the coming decades radiotherapy will be revolutionised through the development of new high-precision delivery techniques and the integration of new advances in molecular biology. This will require the careful interweaving of multiple disciplines, including biology, physics and medicine. Further information about the sections and the researchgroups.

In 2005 we established a Center for Innovation in Radiation Oncology in Dresden, in the framework of the "Create Excellence - Foster Talent" program of the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research. Building on the international reputation and extensive research infrastructure of the Dresden group, this represents a new, future-oriented research effort in the field of radiation research in oncology which we have entitled "OncoRay". This center is jointly operated by the support of the participating institutes that have agreed to take part in this endeavour University of Technology of Dresden: Medical Faculty, the University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus and the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden - Rossendorf).