• Sharp rise in patient numbers at MIT since August 2019
• Further studies for expansion of treatment offering already largely concluded
• Persons in charge made more confident thanks to cooperation schemes with other hospitals

On 1 August 2019, RHÖN-KLINIKUM AG took over responsibility for the technical operation of the Marburg Ion Beam Therapy Center (MIT) and UKGM medical responsibility for patient treatments at the MIT. Since then patient numbers have increased significantly. Given the positive trend, the Board of Management affirms its resolve to continue operating the MIT in the long term, thus bringing forward a decision it had been planning to make for the end of 2020.

“We are confident that, in addition to the treatment indications established so far, we will be able to help even more patients with particle therapy in future thanks to innovative studies”, said Dr. Gunther K. Weiß, member on the Board of Management of RHÖN-KLINIKUM AG and chairman of the Management Board of Universitätsklinikum Gießen und Marburg GmbH (UKGM).

As only one of two centres of its kind in Germany, Marburg offers radiation therapy with carbon ions in addition to hydrogen ion radiation treatments. “UKGM thus has an oncology treatment offering found nowhere else within a broad area. Moreover, every tumour patient benefits from the extensive oncological expertise of UKGM, as radiotherapy and surgical procedures often go hand in hand”, said Dr. Sylvia Heinis, managing director of MIT GmbH and commercial managing director of Universitätsklinikum Marburg.

“At the hospital for radiation therapy at Universitätsklinikum Gießen und Marburg, preparatory studies for also enabling treatment of patients with non-small-cell lung cancer using protons or carbon ions have already been largely concluded. We assume that all legal regulations for commencing these patient studies will also likely be met by the end of this year. That would be a big step forward for Marburg and particle therapy, and pave the way for testing further indications for this special therapy. It would also greatly round off and thus strengthen the ‘German Centre for Lung Research (DZL)’ in Giessen“, said the medical director of the MIT and director of the Hospital for Radiation Therapy and Radio Oncology at Universitätsklinikum Marburg, Prof. Dr. Rita Engenhart-Cabillic. The previous treatment range covers the use of particle therapy for brain tumours, head-and-neck tumours, tumours of the liver, prostate and pancreas, for relapses and especially for tumour diseases in infants and children.

Cooperation schemes with renown hospitals abroad moreover make all the persons in charge in Marburg Lahnbergen confident that the radiation therapy treatment offering of the MIT will in future be used for patients even well beyond national borders.

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RHÖN‐KLINIKUM AG is one of the largest healthcare providers in Germany. The hospital Group offers excellent medical care with a direct link to universities and research facilities. More than 850,000 patients are treated every year at the five Group hospitals located in Bad Berka, Bad Neustadt, Frankfurt (Oder), Giessen and Marburg where more than 17,000 employees work. With the RHÖN Campus concept the Company is implementing an innovative and path breaking project that raises fully comprehensive healthcare in rural areas to a new level of excellence and is geared to the growing needs of patients. 

Contact:

RHÖN-KLINIKUM AG | Head of Division Corporate Communications and Marketing
Elke Pfeifer
T. +49 9771 65-1327 | elke.pfeifer(at)rhoen-klinikum-ag.com

RHÖN-KLINIKUM AG | Head of Investor Relations and Treasury
Julian Schmitt
T. +49 9771 65-1536 | julian.schmitt(at)rhoen-klinikum-ag.com