2023-06-15 11:22:30
Six hundred children are diagnosed with cancer every year. Those children all end up in the Princess Máxima Center in Utrecht. In a special Op1 live from the largest pediatric oncology center in Europe, we hear the stories about Quinten, Kasper, Aline, little Klaartje and their parents. We also speak with various pediatric oncologists and researchers: what new treatments have been developed here in the past 5 years? And what does that mean for children’s chances of healing?
“Before this we had seven pediatric cancer centers,” says co-founder of the Princess Máxima Center Rob Pieters. And he wanted to change that. The approximately six hundred children who develop cancer every year must receive the best possible help. “Cancer is the leading cause of death in children, but all childhood cancers are actually rare. It is not acceptable for your child to get the second best center. So we all sat down together, so that we can make progress much faster.”
Growing tumors
By joining forces, the investigations go faster. “That is actually the basis of the Máxima. A lot of improvements have now been made that we would never have been able to do if we had been in seven places. We are happy that this is now here.”
For example, the Princess Máxima Center has its own lab, where Annelisa Cornel and her colleagues are engaged in cultivating mini-tumours. “That way we can do more research into what exactly goes wrong in those cells, how we can cure it, and we can test new treatments and predict in advance whether those treatments will make a difference.”
I would give my life
One of the children in the Máxima Center is Quinten, Amélie’s eleven-year-old brother. To help him, she underwent a stem cell transplant. A major operation for the thirteen-year-old, which she did not doubt for a single moment. “I would give my life for Quinten. I am glad that I was finally able to do that.”
“They told me that I would get off quite easily. I would have some back pain and a reduced condition. But we all underestimated it. I still have back pain now. That’s my weak spot now. My condition is also a bit less. But everything hurts less with the thoughts that I did it for Quinten.”
Leukemia and graduation
Alina was diagnosed with leukemia at 16 and felt she was falling behind peers after her recovery. “I had always thought that there is a bear on the road, cancer, and it will run away at some point. And then you can continue. But the bear is not on the other roads, so everyone is miles ahead. Everyone is ahead and I am behind. And even more so, because I also fought the bear.”
When her friends graduated, Alina had to study for another two years. And it worked. On the day of the broadcast, she graduated from high school. “It is the first time that I see a future again.”
Watch the special from the Princess Máxima Center here.
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