The Thoraxklinik Heidelberg started as a convalescent home, then grew from a tuberculosis hospital into a clinic specialized in all thoracic diseases, and has steadily evolved into today's world-class Lung Center. It holds a lead position not just in Germany but in all of Europe, with around 10,000 admissions, 8,600 outpatient visits, and 2,300 surgical procedures performed annually. 

Optimal care of patients

The high-volume clinic offers comprehensive evaluation, consultation, diagnostic, and treatment, combined with timely and patient-focused care. The health-care professionals function as a cohesive team, working to develop the best treatment options for each patient. Making full use of all medical findings and information you bring along with you, we can back up our final assessment with the latest diagnostic tools. Therapy decisions are always based on an interdisciplinary approach, including the expertise of a radiologist, pathologist, and anesthesiologist. Options for cancer treatment are evaluated in multidisciplinary tumor conferences.

Close collaboration is not confined to our clinic compound. Partnering with the Heidelberg University Hospital and the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) , the Thoraxklinik Heidelberg is part of the National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT) . This cooperation includes both clinical proceedings and joint research projects. As a consequence of both the highly coordinated infrastructure and extremely efficient cooperative work, the Thoraxklinik Heidelberg has been certified as a Lung Cancer Center since 2009.

Science for patients

Today's medicine integrates clinical expertise and scientific evidence resulting from systematic research. Consequently, the medical treatment we use today is partly the result of continuous development and regulatory evaluation in the past; it is also  based on scientific research, innovations and breakthroughs compiled, achieved and shared world-wide. Particularly in cancer care, scientific changes are constantly taking place.

The Thoraxklinik Translational Research Section has established Germany's largest tissue bank for lung carcinoma. In order to improve both the prognosis and diagnosis of patients with bronchial carcinoma, the molecular biology of tumor cells is explored: What is promoting their development? How can they be influenced? What makes  them responsive to specific therapies? These investigations are carried out in cooperation with European network partners.

Clinical research and biomedical science advance the implementation of new methods and standards in patient care, such as multi-modal treatment concepts – surgery in combination with radiotherapy and/or chemotherapy, or chemotherapy combined with radiotherapy alone.

Thorax-Foundation

More about the work of the Thorax-Foundation: Flyer