Projects
Postpartum breast cancer diagnosed during the post-weaning period: a distinct entity with unique clinicopathological, molecular and immunological features? KU Leuven
Background Postpartum breast cancer (PP-BC) represents an under-recognized, yet high-risk subset of breast cancer diagnosed in young women. Breast cancers that occur 1 to 2 years postpartum are characterized with a 2-fold increased risk for metastasis and higher death rates in comparison to breast cancers diagnosed in age-matched women outside but also during pregnancy. The poorer prognosis and increased risk for metastasis ...
Unraveling carboplatin resistance mechanisms in triple negative breast cancer KU Leuven
Platinum-based chemotherapeutics induce pathological responses in many solid tumors. In breast cancer, their use is common in late metastatic patients. However, there is a growing interest to use carboplatin in (neo)adjuvant therapy regimens for triple negative breast cancer, a subtype characterized by its poor prognosis and limited treatment options. Patients develop resistance to platinum drugs over time, a process that is incompletely ...
Negotiating consent: patient agency and gynaecological surgery (France and the Netherlands, 1890s-1960s) KU Leuven
Scholars have often depicted the rise of informed consent as a recent development in which patients have achieved (legal) autonomy since the 1960s. This project challenges the view that patients had (almost) no autonomy before the post-war period. It aims to provide a long-term historical perspective on patient agency in negotiations over consent in France and the Netherlands from the 1890s until the 1960s. Gynaecological surgery will serve ...
Negotiating consent: patient agency and gynaecological surgery (France and the Netherlands, 1890s-1960s) KU Leuven
Optimal surgical planning for gynaecological patients KU Leuven
breastcancer and sexuality KU Leuven
The goal of this research is to have a better view on sexual problems during or after treatment of breast cancer, also to find oncological safe treatments for sexual problems related to vaginal atrophy caused by breast cancer treatment. The results of part 1 of my research may affect the course of part 2, when the needs of our patients are different than expected. PART 1 1A: psychosocial research Using validated questionaires after diagnosis ...
Evaluation of chemotherapy-associated fetal damage in cancer in pregnancy KU Leuven
Though rare, cancer in pregnancy is becoming more frequent due to the trend to postpone pregnancies until a later age. In large-scale clinical studies, we showed that chemotherapy given during pregnancy has no adverse effect on the short-term health of the infants. Yet, these children appear to be more often small for their gestational age, have a lower verbal IQ and increased chance of wearing glasses at the age of 6. Long-term health ...
Unraveling the resistance mechanisms to PI3K/mTOR inhibition and PD-1 blockade in uterine leiomyosarcoma KU Leuven
Uterine leiomyosarcomas (uLMS) are rare and aggressive cancers
with only limited treatment options. Five-year overall survival ranges
between 16% and 57%, depending on the stage of the disease.
uLMS show substantial inter- and intra-tumor heterogeneity making
them difficult to treat. Due to this heterogeneity, not all patients
respond equally to the same treatments, underscoring the urgent
need for new ...
Ex ovo omnia: from stem cell to oocyte Ghent University
Female infertility is often associated with inferior oocyte quality. To cure this problem we will develop a bovine and human 3D model for final in vitro oocyte maturation. Moreover, mature oocytes will be generated after oogenesis
in vitro starting from human embryonic stem cells. Epigenetic and chromosomal stability and functionality will be evaluated in mature oocytes and embryos to guarantee safety of this novel therapy.