In Germany, more than 480,000 people are diagnosed with cancer every year and around 230,000 lose the battle against the disease. Cancer is the second most common cause of death in Germany - even the most common among people under 65 - and is one of the most feared diseases. Due to the aging population, a further increase in the number of cases and deaths is to be expected. To meet this challenge, the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, together with the Federal Ministry of Health, launched the National Decade Against Cancer in January 2019. Its aim is to intensify cancer research in a targeted manner, pool resources and quickly translate research findings into applications. A particular focus is on cancer prevention research, which is to be significantly strengthened. The initiative “Model Region Bremen” is embedded in this context, with the aim of researching how the potential of cancer prevention can be exploited in the population.

It is generally recognized that around 40 percent of cancers could be prevented by modifiable risk factors such as smoking, alcohol consumption, an unhealthy diet, lack of exercise and obesity. These factors also play a role in many other chronic diseases. Targeted preventive measures could therefore not only prevent numerous cases of cancer, but also other chronic diseases. For some types of cancer, early detection measures offer additional opportunities to detect the disease at an early stage with a good prognosis (e.g. breast cancer) or to prevent it altogether (e.g. colon cancer). Vaccination against human papillomavirus (HPV) has also been a good way of preventing cervical cancer for a number of years.

Nevertheless, around 30 percent of the adult population in Germany smoke. In very few other European countries, is the per capita alcohol consumption as high as in Germany, while the HPV vaccination rate is very low at only around 50 percent compared to other countries. Around 10 percent of school-age children are already overweight, and there is still considerable room for improvement in some areas of early cancer detection. These examples show that the potential of cancer prevention in Germany is far from exhausted.

Simply knowing about the possibilities for prevention is therefore not enough. Rather, it is necessary to develop and test strategies with which prevention can be successfully implemented in the population. This requires so-called implementation research, which deals with the transfer of research results into practice in order to close the existing gap.

This is precisely where BIPS comes in with the “Model Region Bremen” initiative as part of the National Decade Against Cancer. The aim is to research how the potential of cancer prevention can be exploited as effectively and sustainably as possible in a regional context.

There are many things to consider.; for example, a close exchange with politicians and other players in the healthcare system is important. The so-called prevention dilemma must also be taken into account: Groups that need prevention measures the most are often the hardest to reach. This applies in particular to people with a migration background or a low level of education. The development of measures must therefore take into account their low threshold, accessibility, and comprehensibility (see approach).