Prof. Dr. med. Matthias Lorenz

11 April 1953 – 25 February 2003

Prof. Matthias Lorenz studied physics, veterinary medicine and medicine in Giessen and Frankfurt after completing his medical service in the German Armed Forces. His doctorate dealt with an endocrinological topic in neurology. Before beginning his clinical training, he was a fellow of the DKFZ in Heidelberg in 1981 and worked there experimentally on colon cancer. He tested the combination of local hyperthermia and chemotherapy and carried out pilot studies on the local application of cytostatic drugs. This activity shaped his subsequent continuous scientific interest and field of work.

As a specialist in surgery and visceral surgery at the University of Frankfurt am Main, he was involved in setting up an oncological working group, which he later led. In his many years as senior physician, he became head of the section “Surgical Oncology”.
In these extraordinarily fruitful years with a multitude of his own scientific work, he spent several study visits abroad, mainly in the USA.

The results of the multicentre therapy studies on the treatment of liver metastases, in particular of colon carcinoma, which he initiated, supported and in some cases led, and the establishment of the “Liver Metastases” working group remain unchanged.

In 1990 his habilitation was completed with the thesis “The Regional Therapy of Liver Metastases of Colorectal Carcinomas”. In 1997 he was awarded a full professorship. In 2002, a few weeks before his diagnosis, the German Cancer Society awarded him the prestigious Arthur Walpole Prize for his services to clinical studies in oncology.
Prof. Matthias Lorenz died on February 25, 2003.

The Matthias Lorenz Research Award was donated in memory of this outstanding scientist and physician in recognition of his special services to the promotion and further development of clinical-therapeutic research in locoregional tumour therapy and for his achievements as a surgeon and oncologist, who often personally cared for his patients until the end of their lives. We honour Matthias Lorenz with this research award and hope that he will also become a role model for other scientists.