“I started working at the institute as an attending physician and regularly encountered Phase I studies – studies researching the optimal dose of a drug. I wanted to do that too! This week I will defend my thesis on Phase I studies using drugs we developed at the Netherlands Cancer Institute: the oral taxanes ModraDoc and ModraPac. I tested whether we could administer these chemotherapies in tablet form, instead of through an IV. As it turns out, we can – as long as we combine it with the drug ritonavir, which is given to patients with HIV for this same purpose. Treatment with chemotherapy tablets causes fewer serious side effects than chemotherapy through IV, and it is significantly easier. Patients won’t need to come to the hospital for their treatments. I and the oral taxanes have now both left the Netherlands Cancer Institute: the drug will be researched further in the US, and I have moved to Utrecht to train as an internist.”
Marit will defend her thesis on May 11.
(co)promotors
prof. dr. J.H. Beijnen
A. M. Bergman
S. Marchetti
This research was made possible in part by ZonMw and Modra Pharmaceuticals BV