World Cancer Day on February 4: From shadow to light

Cancer is the second most common cause of death in Germany. In 2023, the Federal Statistical Office counted 238,622 deaths from cancer across Germany. This means that cancer is responsible for almost one in four deaths in Germany. Due to rising life expectancy, the risk of being diagnosed with cancer is increasing for individuals. However, thanks to medical progress and improved prevention and early detection, the likelihood of dying from cancer is decreasing.

However, this knowledge alone is only of limited help in diagnosing an individual with cancer. It is and remains a shock for those affected. What motivates patients, how plannable is the attempt by doctors to help and cure, where do current research projects start?

With the exhibition "From Shadow to Light", six master students from the Dresden University of Fine Arts (HfBK Dresden) approached these questions in 2023/24. Over several months, they visited researchers in the laboratories of the National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT/UCC) Dresden, accompanied doctors on the wards of the university hospital and engaged intensively with those affected. The resulting artworks are a very personal invitation to engage with the possibilities and progress of cancer research and therapy. The works were curated jointly by the NCT/UCC and the Office for Academic Heritage , Scientific and Art Collections of TU Dresden, which is significantly involved in the exhibition and its implementation, both financially and organizationally. The works were curated jointly by the NCT/UCC and the Office for Academic Heritage , Scientific and Art Collections of TU Dresden, which is significantly involved in the exhibition and its implementation both financially and organizationally as a partner.

© Michael Kretzschmar

After the works by Eric Beier, Noemi Durighello, Hanne Lange, Michael Merkel, Julia Schmelzer and Tillmann Ziola have been on display at the NCT/UCC Dresden for a year, the exhibition will go on tour from February 4. It will initially be on display for almost four weeks at Dresden's Altmarkt-Galerie. It is intended to provide space for questions and reflections on the subject of illness and cancer, virtually in the center of hectic and everyday life.

"It is important to take the time to deal with the topic of cancer. The figures show that cancer affects almost everyone sooner or later, either directly or as an associate member," says Prof. Esther Troost, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at TU Dresden and also Director of the Department of Radiotherapy and Radiation Oncology. "Over the past decades, we have built up great oncological expertise in research, diagnostics and treatment of cancer here on the campus of Dresden University Medicine. This makes Dresden one of the top locations in Germany."

"The increasing inclusion of the patient perspective, particularly through the NCT/UCC, significantly broadens the perspective of research and medical practice once again," explains Prof. Uwe Platzbecker, Medical Director of Dresden University Hospital. "We have also succeeded in strengthening care at the UKD with numerous projects and programs. These include special offers for sick children and adolescents as well as the psycho-oncological service, sports and nutrition programs or the artistic approach to the topic of cancer."

The next important piece of the puzzle is prevention. The first branch of the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) is currently being established on the campus, focusing on the development and validation of innovative technological methods for personalized cancer prevention and early detection, among other things. A prevention research outpatient clinic is intended to invite people to find out about cancer prevention options, determine their individual cancer risk and, if necessary, arouse interest in participating in scientific studies.

The "Shadows to Light" exhibition can be seen from February 4 to February 28, 2025 at the Altmarkt-Galerie Dresden, Webergasse 1.

More about the artists, works and their creation: https://www.nct-dresden.de/de/das-nctucc-dresden/veranstaltungen/ausstellung-kunst-und-krebs

Background:
Dresden has been home to the National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT/UCC) Dresden for ten years now. This was founded in 2015 with the aim of combining patient care at the cutting edge of scientific knowledge with practical research at the highest level, building significantly on the University Cancer Center (UCC) founded in 2003.
The catchment area of the NCT/UCC Dresden currently comprises around 4.7 million people living in Saxony and parts of Brandenburg, Thuringia and Saxony-Anhalt. In 2022, almost 5000 people suffering from cancer were treated here.

More: www.nct-dresden.de

Contact:
Anne-Stephanie Vetter
Staff Unit Public Relations of Carl Gustav Carus Faculty of Medicine
of the TUD Dresden University of Technology
National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT/UCC) Dresden
+49 (0) 351 458 17903

www.tu-dresden.de/med

_{National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT/UCC) Dresden
The National Center for Tumor Diseases Dresden is a joint institution involving the German Cancer Research Center (German abbreviation: DKFZ), the Faculty of Medicine at TU Dresden, the Carl Gustav Carus University Hospital Dresden and the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR). The NCT Dresden is part of NCT, which has sites in Berlin, Heidelberg, SouthWest (Tübingen-Stuttgart/Ulm), WERA (Würzburg, Erlangen, Regensburg, Augsburg) and West (Essen/Cologne).
The NCT has made it its mission to link research and patient care as closely as possible. It is a long-term collaboration between the German Cancer Research Center (German abbreviation: DKFZ), excellent partners at the university medical center, and other outstanding research partners at various locations in Germany. The NCT aims at translating innovations in cancer research in Germany into studies in a targeted and rapid manner, with the aim of diagnosing and treating cancer while maintaining a high quality of life. In doing so, patients are research partners on an equal footing.
The Dresden center draws on the structures of the University Cancer Center Dresden (UCC), which was founded in 2003 as one of the first Comprehensive Cancer Centers (CCC) in Germany. Since 2007, the Dresden center has repeatedly been awarded the title of “Oncological Center of Excellence” by the German Cancer Aid (German abbreviation: DKH).}