“I wanted to become a pharmacist, but during my studies I discovered the magic of research. There are so many questions that remain unanswered! I investigated fluoropyrimidines, a form of chemotherapy that we have been using to treat stomach cancer and esophageal cancer, as well as other tumor types. But one problem remains: 20 to 30% of patients experience very nasty side effects as a result of the therapy. They experience diarrhea or nausea to such a degree that some patients are unable to finish their treatment. A part of this patient group has a specific mutation in one enzyme that breaks down the chemotherapy. I investigated whether a lower dose would be effective in this patient group. As it turns out, this lower dose is safe: I didn't find any differences in general survival. What made it extra special was that the journal in which we published these findings, Journal of Clinical Oncology, asked me to record a podcast about the study. That was a lot of fun. Research captivates me: I recently started teaching at the Julius Center at the UMC Utrecht. This allows me to fully dedicate myself to research.”
Jonathan will defend his thesis on January 31.
prof. dr. J.H. Beijnen & prof. dr. H.J. Guchelaar
dr. A. Cats