Oncology

Organoids made from liver tissue of patients with chronic hepatitis B already show the first molecular signs of liver cancer. This has been demonstrated by scientists at Erasmus MC and the the Hubrecht Organoid Technology (HUB).

In a joint research project with Delft University of Technology and Leiden University Medical Center, internist-oncologist Stefan Sleijfer is looking for a drug that can prevent cancer from spreading. Remarkable: the researchers are searching in a library of substances that are already used in daily practice.

If the expression ‘looking for a needle in a haystack’ applies to anyone, it is to Prof. John Martens of the Erasmus MC Cancer Institute. He and his team search for fragments of cancer in body fluids. These liquid biopsies teach them a lot about cancer patients and their tumors.

A proportion of patients with difficult-to-treat non-metastatic bladder cancer benefit from immunotherapy with the drug pembrolizumab. This has been shown by international research, which Erasmus MC Cancer Institute co-led. Annually, researchers estimate this new therapy could save about 50 patients in the Netherlands from having their bladder removed.

Internist and oncologist Stefan Sleijfer and hospital pharmacist Roelof van Leeuwen of Erasmus MC Cancer Institute are working closely together to make cancer therapies more effective. This is not only good for patients, but also for public coffers and for the environment. These efforts save the department of Internal Oncology about EUR 7 million per […]

Scientist Miao-Ping Chien and her team have designed and built a completely new type of microscope. In doing so, Chien hopes to boost research into rare cancer cells. ‘We can image tens of thousands of individual cells at once.’

Looking at both tumor and patient. “In tailored therapy the focus must lie on the tumor and on the patient,” says professor Ron Mathijssen of Erasmus MC Cancer Institute. “It is the knowledge of both that will make the therapy more effective.”

Clarify mechanisms and develop therapies that will become the standard worldwide. That is what the Department of Internal Oncology of Erasmus MC Cancer Institute did for several types of cancer. An interview with department head Stefan Sleijfer.