Professor Köhne studied medicine at the Medical School Hannover/Germany and at the University of Glasgow/Scotland, specializing in internal medicine, haematology and oncology. He has since held senior positions at the Robert-Rössle-Hospital (Department of Haematology/Oncology and Tumour Immunology), Humboldt-University of Berlin (Charité), and at the University Hospital Rostock, Clinic and Policlinic of Internal Medicine, Department of Haematology/Oncology. Prior to his current positions he was appointed Professor of Medical Oncology at the Medical Clinic I,University Carl-Gustav-Carus of the Technical University Dresden.
He is a member of the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) and currently chairs the Oncology Pro advisory group of ESMO, the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) and the Gastrointestinal Tract Cancer Cooperative Group of the EORTC (GITCCG), where he has served as secretary. He is also a member of the AIO Germany and the German Cancer Society. He serves as a consultant for the European Agency for Medicinal Products (EMA) and coordinated several EORTC-trials as well as being a Founding Member of the Pan-European Trials for ad-juvant colon Cancer (PETACC).