The program includes:
- Initial presentation in the hospital
- Clinical history taking
- Review of medical records
- Physical examination
- Laboratory tests:
- complete blood count
- biochemical analysis of blood
- tumor markers
- indicators of inflammation
- coagulation tests
- Ultrasound scan of the abdomen
- Differential diagnosis with other diseases
- Chemotherapy (1 course)
- Cost of essential medicines
- Nursing services
- Consultation of related specialists (tumor board)
- Treatment by chief physician and all leading experts
- Elaboration of further recommendations
How program is carried out
During the first visit, the doctor will conduct a clinical examination and go through the results of previous laboratory tests and instrumental examinations. After that, you will undergo an additional examination, including laboratory assessment of liver and kidney function, ultrasound scan. Based on the received results, the doctor will elaborate the chemotherapy regimen. If necessary, related medical specialists will be involved in the elaboration of a treatment regimen (tumor board).
Chemotherapy is carried out as the day hospital procedure, without mandatory admission to the hospital. After the placement of a venous catheter, you will stay in a comfortable ward. An infusion system will be connected to the catheter, through which the required drug or a drug combination will be administered. All drugs are administered by intravenous drip, slowly, so the total duration of the infusion can be up to several hours. All this time, doctors and nurses will monitor your health condition closely.
After the course of chemotherapy, you will stay under medical supervision in the ward for a few more hours. If your general condition is good, your doctor will allow you to leave the hospital. You will receive the medical report with detailed recommendations regarding further treatment. In the future, you will be able to have a distant consultation with your attending physician and schedule the next course of chemotherapy, if necessary.
Required documents
- Medical records
- MRI/CT scan (not older than 3 months)
- PSMA PET/CT (if available)
- Biopsy results (if available)
Service
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About the department
The Department of Oncology, Hematology and Bone Marrow Transplantation at the Hospital Nordwest Frankfurt am Main provides the high-quality diagnostics and treatment of the entire range of diseases of the hematopoietic system, as well as solid malignant tumors of various localization. The department is certified by the German Cancer Society as the Cancer Center, and therefore it can offer patients all the achievements of modern medicine for the successful treatment of even advanced stages of cancer. The department's specialists are actively involved in research activities and use their own unique developments during the treatment course. The department's patients also have a unique opportunity to participate in clinical trials of new drugs and therapeutic methods, which can provide a chance for full recovery or long-term remission. Palliative care for patients with incurable types of cancer is also an integral part of the clinical practice of a medical facility, which helps patients relieve pain and improve their quality of life. The department's doctors give preference to individualized medical care, and also pay attention to personal communication with their patients.
The department is headed by Prof. Dr. med. Elke Jäger. She has long clinical experience and has saved the lives of many severely ill patients. According to the prestigious Focus magazine, the doctor ranks among the best specialists in the treatment of leukemias, lymphomas and metastases!
The team of the department's hematologists takes care of the health of patients with benign and malignant diseases of the hematopoietic system, ranging from leukemias and lymphomas to impaired hematopoiesis and bleeding disorders. The therapy of blood cancer (leukemia) is of particular interest to the department's specialists. The treatment regimen is developed for each patient individually, depending on the particular type of leukemia, its stage, patient's general health, age and other important factors. The basis of blood cancer treatment is chemotherapy, usually high-dose chemotherapy. Bone marrow transplantation is another effective treatment for blood cancer provided in the department. Thanks to the department's active research activities, the patients can also undergo treatment within the framework of clinical trials (only with the consent of the patient). Upon the completion of treatment, the patient will receive the necessary recommendations, and also remains under the supervision of the department's doctors who closely monitor his health condition in order to prevent complications or recurrences in the future.
The department's oncologists focus on the patients with lung cancer and oncological diseases of other respiratory organs, gastrointestinal tract, including colon and pancreatic cancer, breast cancer, female genital cancer and prostate cancer. In most cases, the first-line therapy for malignant solid tumors is surgical resection, which, depending on the particular clinical case, can be supplemented with chemotherapy, radiation therapy, immunotherapy, targeted therapy, antibody therapy and other treatments. The highly specialized doctors are necessarily involved in the treatment process. These are gastroenterologists, gynecologists, urologists, etc. In addition, the patients and their relatives receive qualified psychological care.
It is worth noting that the department has a Working Group, which has been implementing its activities on vaccine development and application for cancer of various localization for more than 25 years. The essence of the technique is to activate the patient's own immune system to fight against cancer by administering tumor-associated antigens (TAA) into the body. Prior to appointing vaccination, the department's doctors perform special tests (ELISPOT, ELISA, PCR tests) to assess the likelihood of activation of the patient's immune system and the degree of effectiveness of this type of therapy. The research projects in this area are carried out in cooperation with the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research in New York.
The department is proud of its long experience in palliative care for cancer patients. The main task of the specialists in this field is to relieve pain and maintain a decent quality of life for the patients. In addition to physicians and nurses with special training in palliative care, the experienced physiotherapists, nutritionists, psychologists, music therapy specialists, pet therapy and sports therapy specialists take care of the patients. The Palliative Care Unit has 22 beds. The relatives can also stay here overnight at any time. Those patients who want to receive palliative care at home are offered a special program for the organization of such care and training of relatives in the necessary therapeutic measures. The department's specialists provide round-the-clock support, continue to coordinate the treatment of the patient at home and regularly monitor his health status, as well as involve doctors from the related medical fields in the therapeutic process, if required.
The department specializes in the diagnostics and treatment of the following diseases:
- Blood diseases
- Malignant diseases
- Acute and chronic leukemias
- Lymphomas
- Benign diseases
- Impaired hematopoiesis (for example, anemia, thrombocytopenia, leukopenia)
- Bleeding disorders
- Malignant diseases
- Cancers
- Lung cancer, lung metastases and cancers of other respiratory system
- Gastrointestinal cancers, including colon cancer and pancreatic cancer
- Breast cancer
- Female genital cancers
- Cervical cancer
- Endometrial cancer
- Ovarian cancer
- Vulvar cancer
- Prostate cancer
- Other pathologies
The department's range of therapeutic services includes:
- Surgical resection of malignant solid tumors, including minimally invasive surgery and plastic reconstructive interventions (in collaboration with highly specialized surgeons)
- Chemotherapy, including hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC)
- Radiation therapy
- Combined chemoradiation therapy
- Radiofrequency and microwave ablation
- Immunotherapy
- Targeted therapy
- Vaccination (within the framework of clinical trials, with the consent of the patient)
- Drug treatment for pain management
- Palliative care to relieve symptoms and improve quality of life for the patients with advanced cancers
- Psychological care
- Other treatment methods
Curriculum vitae
Higher Education and Professional Career
- 2011 Member of the Academy of Cancer Immunology, New York, USA.
- 2010 Assistant Professor, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, Buffalo, USA.
- 2007 W3 Professorship for Oncology at the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University Frankfurt am Main.
- 2007 Advanced training in Palliative Care.
- 2005 Invitation to the position of Director of the National Cancer Center at the Ruprecht-Karl University of Heidelberg (rejected).
- 2003 Chief Physician of the Department of Oncology, Hematology and Bone Marrow Transplantation at the Hospital Nordwest Frankfurt am Main.
- 2003 Director of the Clinical Research Center at the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, New York.
- 2003 Head of the Clinical Immunology Laboratory at the Hospital Nordwest Frankfurt am Main.
- 1997 Habilitation in Internal Medicine. Subject: "Immune response to melanoma antigens: fundamentals for the development of antigen-specific immunotherapy".
- 1997 Advanced training in Oncology and Hematology.
- 1992 Advanced training in Internal Medicine.
- 1992 - 1993 Managing Senior Physician, Department of Oncology, Hematology and Bone Marrow Transplantation at the Hospital Nordwest Frankfurt am Main.
- 1986 - 1992 Assistant Physician in the Department of Pathology at the University Hospital Mainz.
- 1986 Doctoral thesis in Internal Medicine. Subject: "Study of protein fractions in the chymus after the introduction of lactalbumin under the influence of bitter substances", Julius Maximilian University of Würzburg.
- 1979 - 1985 Study of Human Medicine at the Universities of Mainz, Würzburg and Cologne.
Teaching Career
- Training students on a practical course at the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University Frankfurt am Main.
- Lecture "Selected topics in hematology and oncology" and "Immunotherapy for tumors" for students at the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University Frankfurt am Main.
Photo of the doctor: (c) Krankenhaus Nordwest
About hospital
According to the reputable Focus magazine, the Hospital Nordwest Frankfurt am Main ranks among the top German medical facilities!
The hospital has a reputation of a modern multidisciplinary medical center with excellent quality of services. The medical complex is an academic hospital of the Goethe University Frankfurt, thanks to which it provides patients with treatment based on the very latest achievements of university medicine. The hospital has 12 specialized departments, as well as numerous narrowly focussed centers and institutes, whose doctors work hand in hand for the benefit of their patients. The hospital has 582 beds. The medical staff of the hospital annually provides diagnostics and treatment to more than 21,800 inpatients, while over 36,000 patients receive medical care on an outpatient basis.
The hospital presents such medical fields as oncology and hematology, radiation oncology, gynecology, urology, neurology, internal medicine, general and abdominal surgery, thoracic surgery, vascular surgery and others. Each of these medical fields is represented by a professional team of doctors and nursing staff. Oncology is one of the priority focuses of the hospital. In 2008, the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University Hospital Frankfurt together with the Hospital Nordwest Frankfurt am Main founded the University Cancer Center Frankfurt recognized by the German Cancer Aid as one of the best in Germany. In this high-tech center, the patients receive effective interdisciplinary medical care, since not only oncologists, chemotherapists and radiation oncologists are involved in the therapeutic process, but also specialists from related disciplines, including gynecologists, urologists, gastroenterologists, pulmonologists, surgeons and other experts. The patients are also provided with qualified psychological care, which is an integral part of the successful cancer treatment. Thanks to its status as an academic hospital, the medical facility gives patients the opportunity to participate in clinical trials at both national and international levels.
The hospital is proud of its health facilities and state-of-the-art equipment, which plays an important role in the effective diagnostics and treatment. For example, since 2016, the Department of Radiation Oncology has been using cutting-edge Truebeam STx NOVALIS linear accelerators from VARIAN and Brainlab, which allow the doctors to provide highly effective, but very sparing, radiation therapy for cancer treatment. Despite the presence of modern medical technologies in the hospital, the focus of the doctors is on the patient with his individual needs and wishes. The specialists pay attention to creating a friendly atmosphere in the hospital and always demonstrate humanity in relation to their patients.
The outstanding clinical activities of the medical complex are awarded by many prestigious certificates, including certificates of the German Cancer Society in the treatment of bowel, liver, prostate, gynecologic cancers, etc. The Aktion Saubere Hände certificate and a modern quality management system guarantee patients the highest safety standards during both diagnostic and therapeutic procedures.
Photo: (с) depositphotos
Accommodation in hospital
Patients rooms
The patients of the Hospital Nordwest Frankfurt am Main live in comfortable single and double rooms, corresponding to the level of a top-class hotel. Some single rooms have large panoramic windows offering beautiful views of the city of Frankfurt.
The patient room furnishing includes an automatically adjustable bed, a bedside table, a wardrobe with a built-in safe, a desk with a chair and a reading lamp, a TV, a telephone and a mini-fridge. The patient rooms have Wi-Fi (at an extra fee). All patient rooms have an ensuite bathroom with shower and toilet. In the bathroom one can find changeable towels, a bathrobe, a hairdryer and toiletries.
The hospital has a cafe on its territory, where one can not only have a tasty snack, but also buy newspapers, magazines, personal hygiene products, drinks, sweets and much more.
Meals and Menus
The patients of the hospital are offered delicious and varied three meals a day: breakfast, lunch and dinner. Meals are served to patients in their room. During the day, the patients are provided with fresh fruits, juices, coffee, tea and mineral water.
If you are on a specific diet for some reason, you will be offered an individual menu. Please inform the medical staff about your dietary preferences prior to the treatment.
Further details
Standard rooms include:
Religion
The religious services are available upon request.
Accompanying person
During the inpatient program, the accompanying person can live with the patient in a patient room or a hotel of his choice. Our managers will help you choose the most suitable option.
Hotel
During the outpatient program, the patient can stay at the hotel of his choice. Our managers will help you choose the most suitable option.