The procedure is becoming more and more precise

What role does the WPK Academy Cancer Center play internationally and how important is such a center for Vienna?

Univ. Prof. Dr. Christoph Zielinski: The Cancer Center at the Wiener Privatklinik is one of the first private facilities to specialize in offering interdisciplinary diagnostic and therapeutic care to patients with multiple types of cancer.?We are therefore available for patients from Austria and mainly from Central and South-Eastern Europe.?Especially in this geographical region, the offer is very gratefully accepted, as the Cancer Center at the Wiener Privatklinik has become the reference address for oncological care at the highest international level with the help of internationally recognized experts in the respective field.

What achievements of the Cancer Center would you particularly like to highlight?

The interdisciplinarity, which manifests itself in the regularly held interdisciplinary tumor boards, but also the interprofessional approach, which combines medical and nursing care at the highest level, is particularly noteworthy here.

Which recent developments in diagnostics and therapy would you see as the most essential advances?

In oncology there has been a revolution in diagnostic and therapeutic options in recent years, which is also manifesting itself for the first time in a reduction in deaths: According to a recent analysis from the entire European region, deaths from cancer have fallen by six within the last five years percent in men and four percent in women.?This is very remarkable and is made up of various variables, such as early detection, improved diagnostics and significantly better therapy options, including targeted therapies and immunotherapies, which result in a "precise" approach.

On the other hand, where do you still see the greatest potential for development in oncology?

I think that we will soon have more, precisely in the cancer cell, at molecularly defined sites that will lead to the clinically manifest development of cancerous diseases.?In addition, immunotherapy for cancer diseases will be supplemented by new substances that activate more and more immune-competent cells.

It usually takes a very long time for research advances to be put into practice.?What does it take to bring innovative therapies to patients as quickly as possible?

In Austria we are in the fortunate position of being able to use substances approved by the European Medicines Agency very quickly. This takes around 100 days, while in other regions of Europe it can take up to 1000 days or more. This circumstance certainly also contributes to the success of the Cancer Center at the Wiener Privatklinik in the geographic region of Central and Southeastern Europe.