Lower Austria clinics expand cancer treatment network
Friday 23rd October 2026 on 11:15 in
Austria
Lower Austria’s state clinics plan to strengthen cooperation on cancer care, ORF reports, so patients can benefit from specialist treatment regardless of where they live.
About 9,700 people in Lower Austria are diagnosed with cancer each year. More than 30,000 cancer patients were treated at the state clinics last year, according to the Lower Austrian Health Agency. The agency is expanding the existing Tumor Network Lower Austria to improve care.
Doctors at different clinic locations will work more closely and jointly discuss suitable treatments. The aim is to make the expertise of specialist departments available to all patients while keeping treatment as close to home as possible, state councillor Anton Kasser said.
One part of the network is already in place. Since early 2026, all Lower Austrian clinic locations treating cancer patients have joined a shared tumor board for diseases of the blood and blood-forming system. At these case reviews, specialists from different medical fields discuss treatment options together, with experts from other locations able to contribute. The health agency says about 1,000 patients have so far been covered through this cooperation.
The network is expected to expand to other cancers, including lung cancer and tumors of the brain and nervous system, said health agency director Elisabeth Bräutigam.
The agency is also developing a central molecular tumor board to examine the genetic and molecular features of tumors. Specialists could use the findings to assess whether targeted therapies are suitable, including when previous treatments have not worked well enough.
Lower Austria’s seven existing certified oncology centres are also due to be developed further. Further certifications are planned in St. Pölten for gynecological tumors, in Krems for breast cancer, and in Horn for bowel and pancreatic cancer. The tumor network is part of the Health Plan 2040+ and is intended to better coordinate specialist cancer care across the clinic locations.