Visceral Oncology Center

General

• guideline-compliant diagnostics, therapy and aftercare
• individual treatment plan adapted to the needs of the patient
• implementation of the latest research and treatment methods
• review of treatment options as part of clinical studies

Diagnostics

• sonographic and endoscopic examinations
• highly specialized nuclear medical examination procedures
• Computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
• positron emission tomography (PET-CT)

Therapy

• highly specialized surgeons with many years of experience
• surgical equipment at the highest technical level
• oncological surgery including minimally invasive techniques
• DaVinci system
• surgical intensive care unit with experienced team of physicians and nurses
• highly specialized medical specialists with many years of experience in oncology
• all aspects of individual drug treatment, primary and postoperative
• professionally trained nursing team with additional training in oncology

Counseling, support and therapy-accompanying offers

• psychosocial/oncological care: Support in coping with the disease through discussions and accompaniment of patients as they adjust to changed new living conditions.
• nutritional counseling
• tertiary prevention offers by the Prevention Center of the National Center for Tumor Diseases
• consultation for a second opinion

The Visceral Oncology Center consists of a group of experts from a wide variety of disciplines, whose goal is to provide optimal care for patients with tumors of the gastrointestinal tract, the esophagus, and the liver or pancreas through standardized diagnostics, therapy, and follow-up care. The successful treatment of these tumors must be interdisciplinary and individually adjusted to the patients. Accordingly, all patients presenting to the Visceral Oncology Center are discussed in the interdisciplinary tumor board, which takes place three times a week, together with representatives of surgery, pathology, radiology, gastroenterology, internal oncology and radiation therapy. Other specialist disciplines, e.g. nuclear medicine or orthopedics, are invited as needed. The tumor board results in a patient-specific therapy concept that takes into account national and international standards as well as current studies. This therapy concept is binding for all participants.

Below you will find an overview of the treatment and cooperation partners of the Visceral Oncology Center:

The interdisciplinary treatment team includes other cooperation partners from the medical field as well as from the so-called supportive services such as occupational therapy, speech therapy, social services, psychooncology or counselling, with whose help we can offer you and your relatives the best possible support during the entire treatment process.
 

You can find the organization chart of the Visceral Oncology Center here.

The Gastrointestinal Tumor Board of the Visceral Oncology Center takes place three times a week. (Specialist) physicians in private practice and medical colleagues from hospitals in the region can also present their patients in our interdisciplinary tumor conferences and receive a therapy recommendation when all necessary examination results are available.

Gastrointestinal tumor board times

An overview of all tumor boards of the National Center for Tumor Diseases as well as the information for registration can be found here.

Since 2014, the Visceral Oncology Center has met the quality criteria set by the German Cancer Society and has been awarded the title "Visceral Oncology Center with Recommendation of the German Cancer Society e.V.". In addition, the Visceral Oncology Center has a certified quality management system according to DIN EN ISO 9001. The following tumor entities are certified as part of the Visceral Oncology Center:

• Colorectal cancer (colon and rectum)
• Pancreatic cancer
• Stomach cancer
• Liver cancer
• Esophageal cancer

Benefits of a certified center:

Center as a network

The main feature of a certified center is a quality-assured network that covers the entire treatment chain for a patient and meets high quality standards. This ensures that patients receive the best possible care according to the latest scientific criteria, from diagnosis through treatment, inpatient and outpatient, to aftercare. The cooperation of the network is visible, for example, in the interdisciplinary tumor conferences, in which patients are presented and discussed with all treatment partners.

Guidelines

The implementation of the S3 guidelines in the requirement catalogs of the certified centers is a central component of the certification system of the German Cancer Society: the current evidence-based treatment recommendations from the guidelines are integrated in the requirement catalogs for the centers. Their application is monitored in the annual audits.  

Quality management/audits

Every year, qualified experts visit the center and check on site that the quality requirements are being met. The continuous review of the centers and the feedback from the dialogue with the auditors make continuous voluntary quality improvement possible for the center.

Decision support for patients

As a patient, you must help make decisions about your treatment options after receiving detailed information from the physicians treating you. The clear and transparent presentation of a certified center can help you in this process: As a patient, you have access to a network of treatment partners in which all participants have committed themselves to the quality requirements of the certified center. As a patient, you know that the quality seal "certified center" guarantees a high quality of treatment and you have access to qualified concrete contact persons.
 

Specifically

• certified centers offer early detection, diagnostics, therapy and aftercare under one roof
• certified centers cooperate across sectors, disciplines and professional groups
• measurable quality based on defined key figures and indicators from the German Cancer Society
• annual review of the fulfillment of professional requirements by external independent assessments
• specifications from the medical guidelines are the basis for determining the key figures and quality indicators  
• optimal design of transitions and workflows between the various professional groups and disciplines
• establishment of common, clearly defined long-term and short-term goals that are regularly reviewed
• transparent and systematic presentation of all work processes and responsibilities in a management manual
• the management manual is the binding working basis for all employees and regulates the cooperation with the participating facilities
• annual internal audits with all cooperation partners for the continuous development of the center

• Flyer Visceral Oncology Center (German)

Current events of the NCT/UCC Dresden can be found here.