Around 750 doctors, researchers and employees from the University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus Dresden, the Faculty of Medicine at TU Dresden, the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) and the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) work together under the umbrella of the "National Center for Tumor Diseases Dresden (NCT/UCC)".

The specialists treat cancer patients and conduct research into the latest cancer drugs and immunotherapies. They are also developing new surgical techniques, imaging methods and high-precision radiotherapy. This enables cancer patients to be treated using the latest scientific findings. At the same time, the proximity of the laboratory and clinic provides scientists with important impetus for their practical research.

Since 2015, Dresden has been the second location of the National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT) in Germany alongside Heidelberg. The Dresden center builds on the structures of the continuously certified center of excellence (UCC), which has existed since 2003.The annual funding of the NCT/UCC amounts to 15 million euros.This is funded 90 percent by the federal government and ten percent by the Free State of Saxony.In addition, the state is providing 22 million euros for the construction of a new NCT building on the campus of the university hospital. From 2020, the building will house a globally unique research platform. This includes an operating theater of the future, state-of-the-art imaging equipment and a radiation unit. Patients will be treated here under one roof using innovative methods and new strategies and technologies against cancer will be developed in an "ONCO-INNOVATION-LAB".