Animal Research

We conduct our animal research in a responsible manner

Learning to understand cancer, which is an extremely complex and diverse disease involving the entire body, requires research involving living animals – which, in our institute, are rodents.

We want to be open and transparent about our research involving living animals, and we conduct our research in the most responsible manner, with great care for the wellbeing of our animals. A commitment to reduce, refine and replace animal experiments, wherever possible, underpins all our work.

In 2021, we co-launched and signed the Dutch Transparency Agreement on Animal Testing.

Animal Research Report 2023

The NKI annual animal research report provides an overview of the number of animal experiments completed in the past year and the number of laboratory animals used in research.

Since 2018, two trends can be observed:

Much effort has been invested in minimizing the number of animals bred but not used, which resulted in a substantial decrease between 2018 and 2023.
We can also appreciate a decreasing trend in the number of experiments using animals, albeit slight. Despite all efforts toward animal-free innovation, animal experiments are still needed to answer scientific questions in cancer research.

Read our annual animal research reports below (in Dutch):

NKI animal research numbers 2023
NKI animal research numbers 2022
NKI animal research numbers 2021

Non-technical summaries (NTS) in Dutch

The non-technical summary (NTS) for animal testing permits explains in clear, accessible national language (this means in Dutch for research institutes in the Netherlands)) why specific animal testing is necessary. These documents are intended for a general audience and outline the research objectives, why animals are needed, the species and numbers involved, what the animals experience during research, and how researchers ensure their welfare.

NTS gezond weefsel 36
NTS fok met ongerief
NTS imaging 31
NTS interventie 29
NT training 24

Mouse Cancer Clinic NKI

This video provides an insight into the laboratory animal facility of the NKI where you will get a guided tour in the Mouse Cancer Clinic, a state-of-the-art and fully equipped facility focused on preclinical cancer research.