PROMISE initiative receives the German University Medicine Award 2025

The international PROMISE initiative was awarded the German University Medicine Prize at the Day of University Medicine in Berlin on 26 November. The research team of the international PROMISE (PROstate cancer Molecular Imaging Standardized Evaluation) initiative, led by Essen University Hospital, has developed a method that uses highly accurate imaging to predict the progression of prostate cancer even more precisely and to control therapies more individually.

With around 65,000 new cases per year, prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men in Germany. In order to develop a suitable therapy, a precise assessment of the individual patient's risk is necessary. For risk assessment, the researchers use PSMA-PET, a state-of-the-art imaging technique that can detect prostate cancer cells very precisely. In addition to Essen, German university hospitals and research institutions in Dresden, Hamburg, Munich, Freiburg and Münster are also involved in the project.

The team has analyzed image data from over 15,000 patients worldwide and developed so-called nomograms - precise prediction models for individual risk. The results should be understandable for both doctors and patients and support joint therapy decisions. Just a few months after the study was published, the new models were included in the German S3 guideline on prostate cancer.

"As Dresden Nuclear Medicine, we are pleased to be one of the largest participating centers with over 1,200 patients, to be actively involved in the creation of prognostic nomograms of prostate cancer patients at all stages and to participate in various subprojects in close cooperation with our nuclear medicine colleagues around the world," says Dr. Sebastian Hoberück, Lead Investigator Dresden and Senior Physician for Nuclear Medicine at the University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus Dresden. "Since January 2024, all our PSMA-PET/CT and PSMA-PET/MR examinations in prostate cancer patients have been standardized according to the PROMISE criteria. In this way, we want to do justice to the increasing role of this examination in the treatment management of patients."

More about the PROMISE project: https: //www.promise-pet.org/

The background

The German University Medicine Prize recognizes outstanding team achievements in innovative projects of great importance for medical care. The prize, which is endowed with 25,000 euros, is intended to strengthen medical research in Germany as a scientific location. The award is decided by a jury of representatives from university medicine, patient interests, industry and institutions from the university research environment.