Regensburg study PRISMA: Revolution in cancer care begins!

Regensburg study PRISMA: Revolution in cancer care begins!

On June 2, 2025, the University of Regensburg launched the nationwide PRISMA study, which is dedicated to improving care for cancer patients. This innovative phase II study, conducted by the National Center for Tumor Diseases ( NCT ) is funded, has the aim of developing and testing new care approaches, particularly in rural regions. The project will be funded with more than two million euros over a period of four years and involves the collaboration of several renowned university hospitals in Germany, including Würzburg, Erlangen, Augsburg, Berlin and Cologne.

The scientific management of PRISMA is in the hands of Prof. Dr. Anne Herrmann, who holds the chair for medical sociology at the University of Regensburg. A central concern of the study is to improve communication between medical staff, patients and their relatives. Optimizing care along the entire treatment chain plays an important role.

Innovative approaches to patient care

PRISMA has three central components. On the one hand, web-based micro-learning modules are offered that provide patients and relatives with knowledge about diseases and therapies in the form of short videos. On the other hand, social prescriptions are used, which contain individual recommendations for non-medical support offers.

Another important element of the study is a digital feedback system, which enables a continuous digital survey of health status. These measures are intended to respond to individual needs at an early stage and improve the quality of life of patients, which is also important for relieving the burden on the healthcare system. In addition, the active involvement of patients is planned; Representatives from organizations affected by those affected accompany the project and contribute their perspectives.

As experience in recent years has shown, patients with hormone-sensitive breast cancer are particularly dependent on additional support. Every year there are almost 70,000 new cases in women in Germany. After surgery, chemotherapy and radiation therapy, these patients often require longer antihormone therapy, which significantly reduces the risk of recurrence. Nevertheless, 14 to 50 percent of affected women stop taking the medication daily within the first two years. Against this background, PRISMA aims to improve the compliance and quality of life of these patients by developing an accompanying app application for digital follow-up care.

Future of cancer research

At the 35th German Cancer Congress 2022 in Berlin, which took place under the motto “Interfaces between innovation and care”, numerous topics regarding the improvement of care structures in cancer medicine were discussed. The parliamentary state secretary in the BMBF, Mario Brandenburg, named important funding areas such as the medical informatics initiative, which is promoting the creation of data integration centers at university hospitals, and the development of digital progress hubs for health, which are intended to connect non-university providers to the system.

The innovation dynamic in cancer research is also given by projects such as the HARMONY project, which has a large number of European partners on board to create a large data pool for hematological patients. However, it appears that Germany has fallen as a study location and is now in sixth place, which is due to high regulatory challenges and the lack of harmonization of contracts.

Overall, the Decade Against Cancer aims to achieve the curability or controllability of cancer for three out of four patients, with the national centers for tumor diseases being expanded from two to six locations. These are all steps that, in combination with the implementation of PRISMA, can help to sustainably improve the future care of cancer patients.