Basic Research and Major Clinical Trials with Innovations for Individual Treatment of Colon- and Rectal Cancer Patients with a Multidisciplinary International Team: From Translational Research to National Guidelines

With the aim to improve standard treatments of patients with Colon Cancer (CC) and Rectal Cancer (CC), including own developments/tools of basic research transformed to clinical relevance, we formed a team of researchers out of clinical disciplines and basic research groups. The patients with their individual diseases and characters were the centers of our efforts – always aiming at best treatment quality and best quality of life. Rarely, scientific developments centered around the patient as a whole are published. Our multidisciplinary group, headed by gastrointestinal surgeons, applied this research philosophy considering the most important aspects of the diseases “colon- and rectal cancer” in the long-term developments. Good expert cooperation/knowledge at the Comprehensive Cancer Center Ulm (CCCU) were applied in several phase III trials for multimodal treatments of primary tumors (MMT) and metastatic diseases (involving nearly 2000 patients and 64 centers), for treatment individualization of MMT and of metastatic disease, for psycho- oncology/quality of life involving the patients’ wishes, and for disease prevention. Most of our research programs initially were heavily rejected/discussed in the scientific communities, but most of the results now have become standards in treatments and national guidelines or are topics in modern translational research protocols involving molecular biology for e.g., “patient centered individualized treatment” and “response prediction”, e.g. in “multimodal treatment” or “downstaging-resection of primary tumors or metastases”. Our research paths might be of interest for established researchers – but also for young colleagues who might start working in the fields described. Progress can be achieved with clear aims and in a motivated interdisciplinary team.