The projects cover a wide range of topics. One team will be testing drugs directly on small pieces of a patient’s tumor. This helps doctors predict which treatment will work best, while reducing unnecessary side effects.
Another team will be investigating whether a blood test can show when a scan is really needed after melanoma treatment. This makes follow-up less burdensome for patients and eases pressure on the healthcare system.
A different project will be using small pieces of real tumor tissue to test therapy combinations that both slow tumor growth and activate the immune system. This approach helps researchers quickly identify the most promising treatments.
Some of the projects receive funding through KWF’s BOOST program. BOOST supports research that has already shown promising results and now takes the next step toward patient applications. Researchers gain access to techniques and models closer to clinical practice, preparing for initial studies in humans.
| Research project |
Project leader |
Funding partner |
Amount |
| Personalized cancer treatment through predicting therapy response with Ex Vivo Cultures |
Julia Houthuijzen |
KWF Kankerbestrijding |
€ 127.806,22 |
| New breast cancer metastasis models to better understand the immune system and improve immunotherapy for different types of breast cancer |
Karin de Visser |
KWF Kankerbestrijding |
€ 148.349,00 |
| Implementation of functional tests to classify somatic variants of unknown significance in routine clinical diagnostics |
Sjors Kas |
KWF Kankerbestrijding |
€ 159.660,75 |
| Enhancing pro-senescence therapy in liver cancer using patient-derived tissue fragments: a translational platform for TAM-targeted immunomodulation |
Serena Vegna |
KWF Kankerbestrijding |
€ 114.152,00 |
| Cardiovascular disease after treatment for Hodgkin lymphoma; investigating the role of genetic predisposition and developing a risk prediction model |
Gordon Watt |
Alpe d’HuZes |
€ 772.081,80 |
| Investigating the role of the immune system in early breast cancer: why some precancerous lesions progress while others do not |
Jelle Wesseling |
KWF Kankerbestrijding |
€ 937.717,03 |
| Puberty as a critical phase for breast cancer risk: studying mutations and potential preventive strategies |
Jacco van Rheenen |
KWF Kankerbestrijding |
€ 990.289,00 |
| Reducing the burden of follow-up after curative treatment for melanoma patients |
Daan van den Broek |
KWF Kankerbestrijding |
€ 1.315.939,52 |
| Development of a multitarget FIT for colorectal cancer population screening |
Beatriz Carvalho |
KWF Kankerbestrijding |
€ 438.094,10 |
| BRIDGE: a preclinical in vivo pipeline for evaluating the therapeutic potential of new target proteins |
Jos Jonkers |
KWF Kankerbestrijding |
€ 419.621,00 |
| Early detection of peritoneal metastases in gastric cancer patients: tumor-guided analysis of cell-free tumor DNA (cfDNA) in peritoneal (wash) fluid (GASTROGUIDE) |
Liudmila Kodach |
KWF Kankerbestrijding |
€ 1.352.740,00 |