At the beginning of January 2025, Prof. Dr. med. Petra Feyer died unexpectedly at the age of 69. She was an outstanding personality who shaped the field of oncological supportive medicine in Germany and across international borders for more than 30 years. At MASCC, she served in many leadership roles, including chairing the 2003 and 2013 Annual Meetings in Berlin, as well as serving on the Board. For many of us she was also a role model, mentor and friend. Many of our long-time members have shared their remembrances of Petra below.
From Karin Jordan:
It is with profound sadness that we say goodbye to Professor Petra Feyer, an internationally acclaimed radio-oncologist and friend whose contributions to the field of supportive care in oncology were just outstanding.
I first met Petra in 2001 as a young medical doctor at the MASCC meeting in Copenhagen. From the very start, her passion for supportive care was infectious, and she inspired me in ways that have shaped my professional journey ever since. She mentored me with unwavering dedication, a trait that characterized her relationship with an entire generation of oncologists.
Petra Feyer was a trailblazer whose boundless energy and determination left an indelible mark on supportive care in oncology, both nationally and internationally. Her leadership played a pivotal role in setting standards for managing – just to give one example – radiotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting. She coordinated the MASCC/ESMO guideline for this area, a testament to her commitment to improving patient care in every aspect.
In Germany, her impact on the field of supportive care was equally profound. Just as an example, she hosted the MASCC Congress in Berlin in both 2003 and 2013, setting new benchmarks for excellence in supportive care each time.
Beyond her professional achievements, Petra was a remarkable teacher, mentor, and very good friend. She was always approachable, a pillar of strength and wisdom for me and all around her. Her dedication often meant that her personal interests took a back seat, yet she never hesitated to give her all for the people she cared about.
I will deeply miss her but forever will remember her with deep gratitude.
From Petra Ortner:
If you ever had the chance to meet Petra Feyer you would never forget her. She was a wonderful person. I met her first in 1990 or 1991 and I liked her from the first moment, when she asked me to introduce her to a famous German pediatrician in a conference hall filled by 1000 people. On the one hand she was a bright and brillant scientist in radiation oncology and supportive care with a straight forward approach to achieve her goals and she had an inimitable ability to pursue her goals while always remaining diplomatic and friendly. On the other hand, in private life, she was a nice and pleasant woman with a good sense of humour and much empathy. Petra would never refuse to help if asked. We shared our dedication to supportive care from the moment we saw first until her death. To establish supportive care as a fundamental prerequisite for high-quality cancer therapy in oncology in Germany and to tirelessly promote the international Society MASCC were examples of her work. For the past 10 years she has struggled with an inherited autoimmune disease but she would never give up. Even when she was in hospital due to her illness she looked forward and her motto was always “das geht schon“ (“it’s okay“). Now she lost the fight far too early.
I miss her badly as a colleague but even more as my good friend. Farewell, my dear friend Petra!
From Jørn Herrstedt:
In the beginning of January professor Petra Feyer sadly passed away. MASCC has thus lost one of its biggest supporters. Petra was a cornerstone in German and international radiotherapy and in supportive care.
Petra represented everything MASCC is about. You meet colleagues (e.g. scientific experts as Petra) and friendships are formed.
Her achievements and contributions to MASCC assume a very large scope. In addition to numerous publications and lectures, Petra was a member of the Antiemetic Guideline Committee from the beginning in 1997 until 2015 and she chaired the Radiotherapy Working Group for all those years. Petra was also a Board Member for many years. She became President-Elect of MASCC, but had to resign from that position due to a serious eye disease. Petra was the Chair of the Annual MASCC Meetings in Berlin in 2003 and 2013. Both Meetings included high quality supportive care programs, were well-organized, attracted many participants and ensured a significant profit for MASCC.
Petra will be missed by MASCC and me.
From Dorothy Keefe:
Prof. Dr. Med Petra Feyer, known to all of us at MASCC as Petra, was a dedicated member of MASCC and its leadership when I joined MASCC in about 1999. She was clearly highly intelligent, charming and friendly, completely dedicated to MASCC and to its goal of improving supportive care in cancer for all. She was meticulous in her work and I enjoyed many years serving on the Board with her. I particularly remember the two meetings she hosted in Berlin, in 2003 and 2013. They were excellent and she was a wonderful host. Sadly, she was not well during 2013 but the pre-work she had done was impressive. Over the next few years, even though it was very hard for her, she continued to attend MASCC and to contribute fully. I continued to enjoy her company and her insights. I cannot quite imagine MASCC without Petra. She will be sorely missed. She will be remembered as one of MASCC’s true champions.
From Carsten Bokemeyer:
The year 2025 started with very sad news of the sudden death of Professor Petra Feyer, a leading person in the field of interdisciplinary cancer care and a dedicated radiation oncologist working in Berlin. Petra made her medical education and first scientific steps in Leipzig studying medicine and working as a scientific assistant doctor at the University of Leipzig where she became a radiation oncologist. In 1994, she moved to Berlin, achieved her habilitation at Berlin Charité and was finally appointed Professor of Radiooncology at Cologne University in 1999. In 2000, she went back to Berlin and led as Clinical Director the department of radiation oncology and nuclear medicine at Vivantes-Klinikum Berlin-Neukölln.
Petra was an enormously active scientist with a focus on supportive care in oncology and she was one of the leading persons establishing standards in this field, both on a national and an international level. She was a member in several national consortia such as the German Cancer Society, the German Society for Palliative Care and others as well as many international societies such as e.g. ESMO, ASCO, ASTRO. In particular, she played a substantial role in the Multidisciplinary Association of Supportive Care in Cancer (MASCC), where she contributed to and led the development of supportive measures in cancer care.
Petra was not only a successful scientist in the field of supportive care in cancer but she was also a wonderful person, dedicated to patient care as well to interaction with colleagues in a very warm and helpful manner. I had the chance to work together with Petra on several symposia and congresses on supportive care all throughout the field of cancer as well as on national and international advisory boards and I have always admired her clear thoughts, her strive for improvement in cancer care and her open-minded character. With her early death, patients, colleagues and societies are losing an important person for the field of supportive care in cancer and we will all miss her truly!
