Project

Medias Klinikum Burghausen: pioneering research in surgical oncology and regional chemotherapy

Karl Reinhard Aigner

DOI: 10.26303/qgc2-rm42

What is it about?

The Medias Klinikum Burghausen is a private clinic based in Germany, with a focus on surgical oncology and regional chemotherapy (RCT). The clinic is under the direction of Prof. Dr. med. Karl Reinhard Aigner, who has 40 years of expertise in this field and is considered a pioneer of RCT worldwide.

Most chemotherapy is applied systemically, which means it travels through the blood stream when delivered into veins, or through muscles or orally. This ensures that the medicine reaches the cancerous cells, but it also affects other healthy cells in the body, which can cause side effects. This form of treatment can also be expensive as systemic chemotherapy generally requires multiple cycles of application.

Regional chemotherapy (RCT) is applied directly to the tumor itself, so that higher doses can be used across fewer cycles, meaning costs are generally lower and side effects greatly reduced.

Professor Karl Reinhard Aigner and his team at the Media Klinikum have conducted numerous studies designed to improve chemotherapy and surgical treatment of tumors. They continue to develop regional chemotherapy techniques and patients who’ve had both therapies frequently report that with RCT they have less side effects and a better quality of life.

Some results are particularly significant, for example, when treating breast cancer with RCT the reoccurrence rate over sixteen years or more of study is only 17%.

This expertise and focus has led to the Medias Klinikum becoming acknowledged internationally as a leading center of practice and research into progressive solid tumor therapies.

Why is it important?

1 in 2 people will develop some form of cancer in their lifetime. Some 18 million people will be diagnosed every year with cancer and almost 9 million will die from it.

The human cost is clear – most of us will have friends and family who have been diagnosed with cancer and undergone chemotherapy. The side-effects of systemic chemotherapy can be crippling. Multiple cycles of treatment requiring ongoing visits to the hospital further takes its toll. The cost of administering these treatments, often over many months, and often combined with surgery, is significant.

The Medias Klinikum is committed to developing more effective solid tumor treatments, particularly through regional chemotherapy, but also through more advanced surgical techniques that both increase life expectancy and ensure the highest possible quality of life ongoing for the patient. More effective treatments also mean lower costs.

Audience briefings1 total

Press briefing

Pioneering clinic leads development of more effective therapies for treating solid tumor cancers

December 18th 2020, Germany – the Medias Klinikum Burghausen continues to push the boundaries of cancer treatment through its pioneering work with regional chemotherapy (RCT).

The clinic, led by Prof. Dr. med. Karl Reinhard Aigner, with over 40 years of expertise, has a global reputation for regional chemotherapy with a focus on increasing life expectancy and reducing the often-debilitating side effects of systemic chemotherapy.

While systemic chemotherapy is applied to the whole body (for example through the veins), regional chemotherapy is targeted directly towards the tumor, meaning higher doses can be used but there is less healthy cell damage, so patients typically report lower side effects. Not only is quality of life higher for patients, but costs are generally lower too as less treatment cycles are required.

The clinic is renowned not only as a center of excellence in the treatment of solid tumor cancers, but also for its research and training. In a recent study led by Professor Karl Reinhard Aigner, and published in the International Journal of Case Reports, the authors demonstrated the effectiveness of a regional chemotherapy approach to cervical cancer. Three patients with advanced cervical cancer were treated with an isolated hypoxic pelvic perfusion. This targeted treatment resulted in remission for all three patients with no long term or systemic side effects. All three patients remain cancer free, 15 years after treatment.

The article can be accessed here: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2210261220310737?via%3Dihub

For more information please contact: info@medias-klinikum.de

Resources9 total

Who is involved?