The Netherlands Cancer Institute

Division of Experimental Therapy
Plesmanlaan 121
1066 CX Amsterdam

The Netherlands


 Homepage

Project Leader

Dr. Fiona Stewart Phone: +31205122036  Fax: +31205122050  Contact

Project Staff

Mr. Nils Visser Technician / mouse irradiation and imaging,  tissue preparation, immunohistochemistry  Phone: +31205122043  Fax: +31205122050  Contact

Dr. Saske Hoving Post doc / general supervision<BR>  Phone: +31205122043  Fax: +31205122050  Contact

Dr. Hans Te Poele Chief technician / mouse irradiation, imaging mice  Phone: +31205122043  Fax: +31205122050  Contact

Institute Presentation

The Netherlands Cancer Institute (NKI-AVL) consists of an integrated cancer hospital with 13 research divisions for fundamental and applied cancer research. The Department of Radiotherapy treats 3500 new patients a year, including over 1000 with breast cancer. Many of these patients are enrolled in clinical trials. The Radiotherapy and Epidemiology departments have evaluated the level of increased risk and dose response effect for second tumors and cardio-vascular events following treatment for Hodgkin's disease, non- Hodgkin's lymphoma, testicular cancer and breast cancer. The radiotherapy and nuclear medicine departments are now prospectively following changes in heart function in breast cancer patients treated with combined radiotherapy and systemic chemotherapy or trastuzumab (Herceptin).

Research support facilities include biometrics, with a comprehensive patient and tumor registration, a laboratory animal department with pathology and transgenic mouse services, a microarray facility and confocal, FACS and digital analysis facilities. A mouse cancer clinic has been set up with dedicated irradiation facilities and scanners for mice (e.g. SPECT/CT, x-ray mammography).

Dr Fiona Stewart runs the normal tissue radiation biology program in the Division of Experimental Therapy at the NKI. This research program uses patient material, animal models and in vitro models to study underlying mechanisms of normal tissue damage after radiotherapy, with the focus on vascular damage. The group has extensive skills in local irradiation of small animals and in vivo testing of functional changes, and in quantitative immunohistochemistry. Dr Stewart has ongoing collaborations with Prof. Mat Daemen and Dr Sylvia Heeneman (CARIM, University of Maastricht) to study mechanisms of radiation induced atherosclerosis, and with Prof. Peter ten Dijke and Prof. Christine Mummery (Leiden University Medical Center) to investigate the molecular mechanisms of radiation induced telangiectasia, and radiation induced cardiovascular damage.