Millions in funding for cancer research
Smart data improves treatment
- von Martin Rolshoven
- 16.03.2026
Pancreatic cancer has the lowest survival rate of all cancers. Although only around four per cent of new cancer cases involve the pancreas, pancreatic cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer-related deaths in Germany. German Cancer Aid is responding with a major research alliance. As part of the German Pancreatic Cancer Alliance, it is funding three consortia with €33.5 million, including the ONCOverse project, in which researchers from the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Duisburg-Essen are playing a key role. €16.2 million is being channelled into ONCOverse, of which the Essen team will receive €6.2 million.
The Essen-led consortium “ONCOverse: Patient-centred and intuitive evidence generation for pancreatic cancer” is developing a digital care platform that closely integrates research and clinical practice. ONCOverse collects data from everyday clinical practice: patients document their well-being. Doctors record tumour characteristics, treatments and clinical courses. What makes this unique is that all data is made interoperable, meaning it can be shared. This creates a comprehensive data repository. The researchers led by project leader Prof. Dr Jens Siveke from the West German Cancer Centre at Essen University Hospital and the German Consortium for Translational Cancer Research aim to clarify which tumour and patient characteristics are important for treatment decisions and which therapy works best for which tumour. In the long term, treatments are to be tailored more precisely to the individual tumour situation. This can improve the prognosis for pancreatic cancer.
At its core, the project is about generating evidence, that is, robust scientific evidence from real-world clinical practice. Instead of relying on isolated studies, the scientists are using ONCOverse to collect data continuously in everyday clinical practice. Modern analytical methods help to identify patterns and compare treatment pathways, including with the aid of artificial intelligence. A key feature is that patients are involved from the outset. Their perspective is intended to ensure that new care models actually meet the needs of those affected.
The ONCOverse team brings together the expertise of partners from the University Hospitals of Dresden, Essen, Halle (Saale), Hamburg-Eppendorf, Heidelberg, Kiel/Lübeck, Cologne and Tübingen, as well as from the Technical University of Munich. There are also collaborations with the National Centre for Tumour Diseases in Heidelberg, the Jülich Research Centre, the Heart and Diabetes Centre of North Rhine-Westphalia, and partners from the Dutch Pancreatic Cancer Group in Amsterdam, Maastricht and Leiden.
Further information on the German Pancreatic Cancer Alliance is available here.
In the image: Multiplex immunofluorescence (mIF) image of the heterogeneous tumour microenvironment of a human PDAC. PDAC (Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma Ecosystem) refers to the extremely complex and tumour-friendly environment surrounding pancreatic cancer.
Further information:
Prof. Dr Jens Siveke, ONCOverse Project Lead, Department of Translational Oncology of Solid Tumours (DKTK) & Brücken Institute for Experimental Tumour Therapy, University Hospital Essen, jens.siveke@uk-essen.de, Tel. 0201/723-4580
Editorial team:
Martin Rolshoven, martin.rolshoven@uk-essen.de, Tel. 0201/723-6274