Research interest
The research of our group focusses on different aspects of head and neck cancer. First of al the development of a conditional mouse model for head and neck squamous cell cancer. For this there is a close cooperation with the division of molecular genetics. Dr. Eric Bindels is the post-doc who performs a lot of the experiments. We are interested in genes causing clonal expansion and the role of different genes in carcinogenesis and tumour behaviour. Another important research line is the the prediction of tumour response to radiotherapy and chemoradiation. Radiological features, immunohistochemistry a, tissue arrays and micro-arrays are used to find markers. In the NKI we have an extensive database of tissues and patient files to study these features.
Key publications on PubMed
Development and clinical assessment of a heat and moisture exchanger with a multi-magnet automatic tracheostoma valve (Provox FreeHands HME) for vocal and pulmonary rehabilitation after total laryngectomy.Acta Otolaryngol. 2003 Jan;123(1):91-9.
More publications by Michiel van den Brekel on PubMed
Bibliographic sketch
Dr. Michiel van den Brekel graduated from the Medical faculty of the Catholic University in Leuven in 1987. In 1992 he did his PhD on radiological and immunohistochemical features of lymph node metastases in the neck in the Free University of Amsterdam. After his specialization in the Academic Hospital Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam, in 1995 he started a clinical reseach fellowship, sponsored by the Netherlands Cancer Society. In Toronto he trained as a head and neck surgeon and did research on the early detection of nasopharyngeal carcinoma using EBV DNA detection. Until 2000 he worked as an assistant professor in hospital of the Vrije Universiteit. His research focussed on the sentinel node detection techniques as well as on minimal residual disease. Since 2000 he works as a head and neck surgeon in the Nethelands Cancer Institute.
Co-workers
Balm, Alfons J.M. MD, PhD Head and Neck Surgeon
Smeele, Ludwig E. MD, PhD Head and Neck Surgeon
Hilgers.Frans J.M. MD, PhD Head and Neck Surgeon
Copper, Marcel P. MD, PhD Head and Neck Surgeon
Tan, I.Bing MD, PhD Head and Neck Surgeon
Binders, E. PhD