A collaboration of Maastricht UMC+ with various other organizations and national university hospitals towards a more person-oriented treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer has received a subsidy of 1.8 million euros.
The collaboration of patient organizations, colleges and university hospitals, among others, receives a subsidy from the NWO – the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research.
Colon cancer is the third most common cancer diagnosis, with a survival rate of about 65%. However, chemotherapy treatment is often unsuccessful. It is often impossible to predict in advance who will benefit from chemotherapy and who will not. A number of patients experience serious side effects such as fever and severe diarrhoea, which require regular hospitalization. These disadvantages have a major negative impact on the quality of life of the treated patients.
Under the leadership of MUMC+, various patient organisations, colleges and university hospitals have therefore joined forces to see how treatment can be better tailored to the individual.
Research leader professor of oncological surgery Marjolein Smidt (Maastricht UMC+): ‘My mission is: treat less with more results. Therefore, it is necessary to research ways to predict whether someone will benefit from this form of chemotherapy at all. In addition, it is crucial that we determine indicators with which we can optimize the treatment, for example in terms of dosage. Finally, we want to be able to make a risk estimate for the risk of serious diarrhea and even anticipate it in advance.’
Optimal treatment: 3 factors
In the study, called OPTIMA, the researchers will look at three things. They will analyze faecal bacteria to determine whether people are at risk of diarrhea as a side effect. Genetic research is being carried out on cells in the tumor, with which practitioners can determine whether the tumor is sensitive to the drug irinotecan. Finally, genetic research is carried out on the basis of blood sampling, which can be used to determine which dose of chemotherapy is optimal for the treatment.