ENSarcoma is rare, so patients look not for “a hospital” but for a place that treats such tumours regularly, where surgeon, radiation oncologist and pathologist work together. Munich is convenient here: with two university hospitals and several large hospitals in one city, a second opinion and a re-read of the tissue specimen need no further travel.
This page covers how sarcoma treatment in Munich works: how a department is chosen, what happens to documents and images before arrival, and what the trip consists of. The disease itself is described on the sarcoma treatment in Germany page.
What matters in sarcoma is the order of steps, not the city
In sarcoma, much depends not on the city but on the order of steps: imaging and its assessment first, then a biopsy planned by whoever will operate, so its track can be removed with the tumour, and only then the intervention. An ad hoc removal without imaging or diagnosis may leave tumour cells behind, calling for a second operation or radiotherapy and making everything that follows harder. This order follows the German S3 guideline on soft tissue sarcoma in adults; its planned validity ended in September 2026, and no update is out yet.
Before treatment, doctors in Munich re-examine the work done at home: a pathologist who works with sarcoma reads the slides and paraffin blocks, the images are read again, and the case goes to a tumour board where surgeon, oncologist, radiation oncologist and radiologist sit with the pathologist. This is routine, not distrust of previous doctors: rare and hard to diagnose, sarcomas need a second look more often than other cancers.
Radiotherapy and drug treatment take the place the board gives them: it sets the order, which decides whether treatment starts with surgery or radiation. The methods are described on the soft tissue sarcoma page.
Munich hospitals that work with AlenMed
AlenMed’s partners in Munich include both university hospitals, the Rotkreuzklinikum and München Klinik Bogenhausen. At Klinikum rechts der Isar (TUM), Prof. Rüdiger von Eisenhart-Rothe is director of the Clinic for Orthopaedics and Sports Orthopaedics. He heads EndoTUM, a maximum-care joint replacement centre, and in 2010 founded the orthopaedic working group on osteo-oncology, that is, on tumours of bone and the surrounding tissue. Prof. Florian Bassermann is director of the Department of Internal Medicine III (haematology and oncology) there.
The LMU cancer centre in Munich (Comprehensive Cancer Center München LMU) is the comprehensive cancer centre of the LMU university hospital: it unites the hospital’s specialised cancer centres, and surgery, drug treatment and radiotherapy meet there. The department for a case is therefore chosen after the documents are reviewed.
At the Rotkreuzklinikum in Munich, the chief physician of haematology and oncology is Prof. Marcus Hentrich. At München Klinik Bogenhausen, Prof. Tobias Herold is chief physician of haematology, oncology, stem cell transplantation and palliative medicine. The drug part is run by a haematologist-oncologist, the surgical part by an orthopaedic or general surgeon specialising in tumours, and the team’s make-up depends on where the tumour sits.
Children and teenagers
Sarcomas in children and teenagers are different ones – rhabdomyosarcoma and Ewing sarcoma – and they are treated in a paediatric oncology department on a protocol, not “as in adults”: a shared treatment plan that sets when chemotherapy, surgery and radiotherapy happen. In Munich that is the Dr. von Hauner Children’s Hospital of the LMU university hospital, where haematology and oncology are led by Prof. Christoph Klein, who also directs the hospital.
Three things matter to the family: whether a parent can stay with the child, whether the ward has a school and a psychologist, and how long the protocol lasts. At Dr. von Hauner, parents can stay overnight, psychologists work in paediatric oncology and teachers give lessons on site. The hospital states the protocol’s length; it depends on tumour type and stage.
How a trip to Munich works
The trip starts with the paperwork: a translated discharge summary, recent laboratory results, MRI and CT discs and, after a biopsy, the blocks and slides. The hospital then sends a written reply and an invitation letter for the medical visa.
The work-up and the re-read of the specimen take the first several days. Part of the treatment is outpatient; surgery and radiotherapy are planned after the tumour board, and the hospital states the actual periods. The airport transfer and accommodation near the hospital are covered on the airport pick-up and accommodation page.
A foreign patient is almost always a self-payer, and the hospital issues a written estimate before treatment starts. The doctor’s and the hospital’s invoices arrive separately: chief-physician treatment is an optional service (Wahlleistung), and § 17 of the Hospital Remuneration Act (KHEntgG) allows such services to be billed separately from general hospital services; the doctor invoices under the German medical fee scale (GOÄ). For the breakdown, see the cost of sarcoma treatment.
Frequently asked questions
Should I bring biopsy blocks and slides to Munich?
Yes. If a biopsy has been done, the pathologist in Munich needs the paraffin blocks and slides themselves, not just the report, to determine again the type of sarcoma and how aggressive it is. Request them from the laboratory that did the analysis and bring them with the MRI and CT discs.
What if the sarcoma was already operated on at home?
Bring the operation documents to Munich: the operation and pathology reports, the blocks and slides, and images from before and after surgery. If the tumour was removed without a margin of healthy tissue, the German guideline advises showing the case to doctors who treat sarcoma regularly; the board then decides on a second operation or radiotherapy.
How long does sarcoma treatment in Munich take?
The hospital states the exact length after the tumour board: it depends on the sarcoma type, its site and whether treatment starts with surgery, radiotherapy or drugs. The work-up and re-read of the specimen take several days. Part of the treatment is outpatient, so book accommodation near the hospital for the whole course.
How AlenMed arranges sarcoma treatment in Munich
An enquiry starts with the documents: they go to a suitable department, and the reply comes from the hospital. AlenMed works with 86 partner hospitals in 38 German cities and 345 doctors; its office is in Munich, so support in this city is run from the office.
Worth asking in advance: who will operate, whether the case went to a tumour board, what the estimate covers and which documents the patient takes home.
This material is for information only and is not an offer. The treatment plan is decided by a doctor in person.
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