“Securing quality – calling for and encouraging research”.

From 22nd to 25th February 2012 one of the largest multi-disciplinary cancer congresses took place in Berlin, Germany, attended by more than 10,000 healthcare professionals. “The German Cancer Congress is the only interdisciplinary congress of its kind in Germany and the second largest congress of its kind anywhere in the world” stated the congress president Professor Dr P Albers and the president of the German Cancer Society (DKG), Professor Dr Dr h.c. W Hohenberger in their greetings. Only the ASCO Annual Meeting is larger. At the 30th German Cancer Congress (DKK) established national and international experts presented latest data and discussed hot topics in the various oncology fields. Joint Symposia of the DKG together with the UICC (Union for International Cancer Control) and ASCO (American Society of Clinical Oncology) respectively stressed the importance of the meeting. The overreaching theme of the meeting was “Securing quality – calling for and encouraging research”. This theme evolved from the idea, that only excellent research in clinics and medical practices can found the basis of future high quality efficient and effective structures in patient care and of the allocation of limited resources to meaningful measures for patient benefit.