Latest news

Researchers at Erasmus MC are gaining an increasingly clear understanding of vascular ageing. Two PhD theses from the research group of Ingrid van der Pluijm show that DNA damage plays a major role and that the ageing process is not necessarily irreversible. ‘Man is as old as his arteries.’

Repeated measurements of the blood marker NT-proBNP, a hormone fragment indicating heart strain, can accurately predict the risk of heart failure, particularly in women. Researchers from Erasmus MC published their findings in the scientific journal Mayo Clinic Proceedings.

Why does chemotherapy work for some patients and not for others? Researchers at Erasmus MC have found a promising clue in the dividing DNA of cancer cells. They hope this will enable them to predict which women with ovarian cancer will truly benefit from chemotherapy.

The longest-running population study in the Netherlands – The Rotterdam Study – in the Ommoord district is 35 years old. Professor of Epidemiology and research leader Arfan Ikram is still enthusiastic. The insights from ERGO have led to policy changes in the Netherlands and beyond. ‘It has triggered a change in thinking.’

Researchers at the Erasmus MC Cancer Institute have developed a nationwide database containing a wealth of information on cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (CSCC). This resource will soon enable doctors to provide more personalized treatments for patients with this type of skin cancer.

Why do some BRCA2 tumors eventually stop responding to chemotherapy? Researchers at Erasmus MC discovered how these tumors are still able to repair their DNA damage and how they evade the effects of chemotherapy.

A national consortium led by Erasmus MC has been awarded €19.6 million through the NWO Large-Scale Research Infrastructures program. The consortium, known as AMICE (Advanced Multimodal Imaging Centers), will invest over the next decade in advancing and refining imaging technologies that are essential for cutting-edge biomedical research.

A prostate cancer screening program can reduce prostate cancer mortality, even in the long term. That is the take-away from research conducted by Erasmus MC in a large European group of screened men. ‘The longer the follow-up, the more reliable the results.’