The Dutch Cancer Society (KWF Kankerbestrijding) has announced on December 20th an investment of € 49.7 million in cancer research. More than € 11.9 million (24%) of this budget will go to 16 research projects at Cancer Center Amsterdam.

This year, the KWF has organized funding in themes they have chosen to accelerate. These include:

  • Exploration: basic laboratory research

  • Development: the translation of insights to the patient

  • Implementation: applying and scaling up research results in practice

  • Smart Measurement: theme call focused on new, smart techniques to monitor cancer during and after treatment

  • Palliative Care: theme call aimed at better care in the last phase of life

  • Public-Private partnerships

This year we are going to do something new compared to previous years: targeted financing on themes that we want to accelerate. Such as palliative care. And smart measurement techniques to better monitor the disease. We expect that with financing within such themes we can further reduce the impact of cancer. We can do that thanks to our donors. And that fills me with pride.
Carla van Gils
Scientific Director KWF

Funded Cancer Center Amsterdam Research Projects

Theme: Exploration

Research Projects

• Jeroen Guikema : Identification of new therapeutic strategies that target growth factor signals in the bone marrow of multiple myeloma patients (€ 740,290)

• Jan Paul Medema : The role of the extracellular matrix in intestinal regeneration and tumor formation (€ 412,623.80)

• Ellen Smets : Tailor-made information for each patient (€ 592,900.70)

• Sandra van Vliet : The role of FUT9 in the anti-tumor immune activity in colorectal cancer (€ 545,827)

• Arjan Griffioen : VICI: Overcoming cancer with immunotherapy by removing the blood vessel barrier (€ 908,857.10)

Young Investigator Grants

• Lotte de Winde : New treatments for patients with aggressive lymphoma that inhibit the tumor-promoting function of fibroblasts in the lymph node (€ 611,399)

Theme: Development

Research Projects

• Rogier Voermans : Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) of the bile ducts for malignant bile duct obstruction in patients with incurable bile duct cancer (€ 444,760.80)

• Hanneke van Laarhoven : TRAP-2: biomarker study into the efficacy of adding TRAstuzumab and Pertuzumab to neoadjuvant chemoradiation in HER2 overexpressing oesophageal adenocarcinoma (€ 1,810,352)

• Hanneke van Laarhoven : The effect of an exercise and diet intervention on quality of life in patients with incurable esophageal and gastric cancer (€ 1,047,322.20)

• Desirée van den Bongard : Re-irradiation with and without hyperthermia after surgery: Side effects, quality of life and survival in patients with recurrence of breast cancer (€ 1,004,451.08)

• David Noske : RNA profiles from platelets for the recognition of tumor progression in glioblastomas (€ 1,125,012.80)

Unique High-Risk Projects

• Markus Hollmann : Psilocybin as a treatment for chemotherapy-induced nerve pain - the SPACE-PAIN pilot study (€ 261,385.70)

Theme: Palliative Care

Research Projects

• Hans Knoop : TIRELESS – Making cognitive behavioral therapy for cancer fatigue suitable for implementation in patients with cancer in the palliative phase (€ 345,730.05)

Theme: Smart Measurement

Research Projects

• Pieter Tanis : Prediction of lung abnormalities with deep learning in patients with colorectal carcinoma (€ 755,480)

Theme: Public-Private partnerships

• Nicolas Leveille : A new therapy for liver cancer (€ 598,796)

• Sybren Meijer : Tumor-immune system interaction analysis in pathology images with artificial intelligence for better selection of immune therapy response in esophageal and gastric cancer patients (€ 774,864)

About KWF

The Dutch Cancer Society is committed to fight cancer by scientific research, education, patient support and fundraising in cooperation with volunteers, donors, patients, doctors and researchers. KWF aims to achieve less cancer, more cures and a higher quality of life for cancer patients.

Read more on the KWF webpage and on the Amsterdam UMC webpage.

For more information, contact Cancer Center Amsterdam.