Review (August 2025)

The german cancer research center (deutsches krebsforschungszentrum, dkfz) with its more than 2,500 employees is the largest biomedical research institute in germany. at dkfz, more than 1,000 scientists investigate how cancer develops, identify cancer risk factors and endeavor to find new strategies to prevent people from getting cancer. they develop novel approaches to make tumor diagnosis more precise and treatment of cancer patients more successful. the staff of the cancer information service (kid) offers information about the widespread disease of cancer for patients, their families, and the general public. jointly with heidelberg university hospital, dkfz has established the national center for tumor diseases (nct) heidelberg, where promising approaches from cancer research are translated into the clinic. in the german consortium for translational cancer research (dktk), one of six german centers for health research, dkfz maintains translational centers at seven university partnering sites. combining excellent university hospitals with high-profile research at a helmholtz center is an important contribution to improving the chances of cancer patients. dkfz is a member of the helmholtz association of national research centers, with ninety percent of its funding coming from the german federal ministry of education and research and the remaining ten percent from the state of baden-württemberg.