Prof Florian Lordick honoured with the Wilhelm Warner Prize for outstanding achievements in cancer research

Leipzig. The Wilhelm Warner Foundation has awarded the Wilhelm Warner Prize to Professor Florian Lordick, Professor of Oncology at Leipzig University and Director of the University Cancer Centre Leipzig (UCCL). The Hamburg-based foundation is honouring his pioneering contributions to the research and development of new diagnostic and therapeutic procedures in the treatment of cancers of the stomach and oesophagus.

Prof. Lordick, who was a member of the board of the German Cancer Society and the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) and president of the International Gastric Cancer Association (IGCA), receives the €10,000 award for his pioneering studies that have contributed to an improvement in the treatment of difficult-to-treat cancers of the stomach and oesophagus. The highly publicised study results were incorporated into the therapy recommendations of specialist societies in Germany, Europe and worldwide.

The internationally renowned oncologist, who has been head of the UCCL since 2012, considers the Wilhelm Warner Prize a great recognition of the continuous work he does in research to improve the treatment of patients with gastrointestinal tumours. "This topic has been with me since the beginning of my academic career 25 years ago," says Prof Lordick. "From the very beginning, the focus has always been on improving the chances of recovery and the quality of life of our patients. We know how much our patients need further improvements. I am therefore continuing the research with my highly motivated and talented team in Leipzig with unchanged enthusiasm and energy."

The Wilhelm Warner Prize has already been awarded to renowned prizewinners from various German universities - including the later Nobel Prize winners Georges J. F. Köhler and Harald zur Hausen - but never before to Leipzig and only once to East Germany. "This fills me with particular pride, as it clearly demonstrates the importance of traditional clinical cancer research here in Leipzig and the esteem in which it is now held throughout Germany," emphasises Prof Florian Lordick.

The Wilhelm Warner Foundation, based in Hamburg, was founded in 1961 by the Hamburg restaurateur Wilhelm Warner shortly before his death. Since 1962, it has honoured scientists who have made outstanding contributions in the field of cancer research and cancer treatment with the Wilhelm Warner Prize every year.