CAYA Cancer Survivorship Research

  • Epidemiology, Public Health, Prevention and Survivorship
Eine lächelnde Frau mit lockigem, braunem Haar steht vor einer Steinmauer. Sie trägt einen grauen Cardigan über einem schwarzen Oberteil.

Dr. Cécile Ronckers

Head of Division

The division aims to generate methodologically sound evidence on the consequences of an early-life cancer diagnosis and treatment, to improve understanding of late effects, to study potential novel avenues for late effects prevention and care, and to contribute to translation and implementation of new research findings into well-coordinated and adequately funded survivorship care and support services, in multi-disciplinary networks of scientists, care providers, and patient representatives.

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About us

The newly founded Division of CAYA (Children, Adolescents and Young Adults) Cancer Survivorship Research is led by Dr Cécile M. Ronckers. The Division is associated with the National Cancer Prevention Center and the Hopp Children’s Cancer Center Heidelberg.

Treatment for cancer in early life, including Children and AYAs (adolescents and young adults), can affect many different aspects of growing up and the later course of life. 

The work of the Division includes national and international observational research into somatic and other late effects among long-term survivors of CAYA cancer, building on existing and new collaborations, and capitalizing on innovative cross-discipline research opportunities at DKFZ, the Heidelberg campus, and beyond. 

This includes classic retrospective studies addressing impact of cancer treatment across the full life-span as well as prospective approaches to study effects of new treatments. A data-infrastructure/registry is envisioned to support integration of clinical, epidemiological, molecular, and future intervention research. Moreover, the division supports the set-up and gradual expansion of survivorship care structures for pediatric and AYA cancer survivors, also involving scientific evaluation and addressing policy aspects. 

In line with previous work, and where feasible, our work is guided by concepts of international standardization and harmonization. 

With regard to somatic late effects, long-standing research lines on subsequent tumors and on late effects of early-life medical radiation exposures (diagnostic and therapeutic) will be further pursued. 

The Division is supported by the Dietmar Hopp Foundation.

Team

Projects

The OptiLATER consortium project (consortium leads: Prof. Dr. U. Dirksen and Prof. Dr. V. Grünwald, University Hospital Essen; funded by the German Federal Ministry of Health) investigated how people are cared for in the long term after a cancer diagnosis and what support and information needs exist. The aim of the project is to further develop long-term follow-up care for people with and after cancer in a needs-based manner.

Project website: Home OptiLATER

One of the defined target groups are Childhood Cancer Survivors (long-term survivors of childhood cancer), who were identified through the German Childhood Cancer Registry and subsequently invited to participate in a questionnaire-based study.

The development, administration, and analysis of the questionnaires are led by Dr. G. Calaminus and Ms. Dipl.-Psych. K. Baust (University Hospital Bonn), Dr. D. Grabow (Division of Childhood Cancer Epidemiology (EpiKiK)/German Childhood Cancer Registry, University Medical Center Mainz), and Dr. Cécile Ronckers (German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) Heidelberg/EpiKiK Mainz).

Julien Frick (DKFZ Heidelberg) leads the analyses on somatic late effects.

Selected Publications

2025 - J Clin Oncol. 2025 Nov;43(31):3403-3421

Owens CA, Ludmir EB, Liu Q, Qiu W, Gupta AC, Smith SA, Rigaud B, Brock KK, Bates JE, Meyers TG, Paulino AC, Peterson CB, Kry SF, Teepen JC, Ronckers CM, Neglia JP, Leisenring WM, Oeffinger KC, Nathan PC, Turcotte LM, Hodgson DC, Hudson MM, Robison LL, Moskowitz CS, Armstrong GT, Henderson TO, Yasui Y, Howell RM

2023 - Nat Med. 2023 Sep 11;29(9):2268–77

Wang Y, Ronckers CM, van Leeuwen FE, Moskowitz CS, Leisenring W, Armstrong GT, de Vathaire F, Hudson MM, Kuehni CE, Arnold MA, Demoor-Goldschmidt C, Green DM, Henderson TO, Howell RM, Ehrhardt MJ, Neglia JP, Oeffinger KC, van der Pal HJH, Robison LL, Schaapveld M, Turcotte LM, Waespe N, Kremer LCM, Teepen JC

2021 - J Clin Oncol . 2021 Sep 20;39(27):3012-3021

Moskowitz C, Ronckers CM, Chou JF, Smith SA, Novetsky Friedman D, Barnea D, Kok JL, de Vries S, Wolden SL, Henderson TO, van der Pal HJH, Kremer LCM, Neglia JP, Turcotte LM, Howell RM, Arnold MA, Schaapveld M, Aleman B, Janus C, Versluys B, Leisenring W, Sklar CA, Begg CB, Pike MC, Armstrong GT, Robison LL, van Leeuwen FE, Oeffinger KC

2019 - JAMA Oncology

Kok JL, Teepen JC, van der Pal HJ, van Leeuwen FE, Tissing WJE, Neggers SJCMM, Loonen JJ, Louwerens M, Versluys B, van den Heuvel-Eibrink MM, van Dulmen-den Broeder E, Jaspers MMW, van Santen HM, van der Heiden-van der Loo M, Janssens GO, Maduro JH, Bruggink AH, Jongmans MC, Kremer LCM, Ronckers CM

2005 - Lancet 2005;365:2014-23

Second primary thyroid cancer after a first childhood malignancy: A report from the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study

Sigurdson AJ, Ronckers CM, Mertens AC, Stovall M, Smith SA, Liu Y,  Berkow R, Sklar CA, Hammond S, Neglia JP, Meadows AT, Robison LL, Inskip PD

2026 - EJC Ped Oncol

Aleshchenko EA, Trocchi P, Apfelbacher Ch, Baust K, Calaminus G, Droege P, Horenkamp-Sonntag D, Ihle P, Klein M, Kuepper-Nybelen, Langer T, Luepkes Chr, Marschall U, Merzenich H, Ruhnke Th, Spix C, Swart E, Ronckers C

2026 - German Childhood Cancer Registry

Ronckers CM, Spix C, Grabow D, Erdmann F. German Childhood Cancer Registry

All Publications

Get in touch with us

Eine lächelnde Frau mit lockigem, braunem Haar steht vor einer Steinmauer. Sie trägt einen grauen Cardigan über einem schwarzen Oberteil.

Dr. Cécile Ronckers

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