The lab of Prof Ceelen performs translational research relevant for clinical application and improvement of Hyperthermic Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy (HIPEC) treatment of peritoneal metastases. This visit provided a valuable opportunity to experimentally investigate how hyperthermia (controlled heat treatment at 41–43°C) influences tissue hydraulic conductivity, a key property that determines how easily interstitial fluid moves through the porous connective tissue matrix and significantly affects the delivery and accumulation of macromolecular and nanoscale therapeutics in tumors.
Research Activities
The system measures bubble displacement as a proxy for fluid movement through tissue samples, providing a practical and reproducible method to assess changes in tissue permeability during hyperthermic exposure. The central hypothesis of my project was that hyperthermia enhances tissue hydraulic conductivity, potentially improving intratumoral drug delivery. My results confirmed a significant increase in hydraulic conductivity under hyperthermic conditions.
To achieve this, I further developed and refined an existing Ussing chamber-based setup at UZ Gent:
- Integrated a heating block system to maintain precise hyperthermic conditions during measurements
- Developed an automated bubble detection and tracking program, enabling more accurate and efficient quantification of interstitial fluid flow through tissue samples
Outcomes and Benefits
This research stay has significantly contributed to my scientific development in multiple ways:
- Gained hands-on experience with biophysical experimentation in a clinically relevant setting
- Established new collaborations with researchers at UZ Gent
- Introduced methodological innovations that will support our ongoing modeling work at Amsterdam UMC
- Enhanced the setup to mimic HIPEC, a treatment used for peritoneal metastasis that involves circulating heated chemotherapy drugs within the abdominal cavity, enabling the testing of new hypotheses and studies on drug penetration into tumor tissues.
- Initiated the groundwork for a manuscript based on the findings from this visit
Acknowledgments
I would like to sincerely thank Cancer Center Amsterdam for supporting this research exchange through the travel grant. This experience has opened new scientific directions for my work and greatly contributed to my professional growth. I am especially grateful to Prof. Wim Ceelen and Dr. Hooman Salavati for their supervision during my research at UZ Gent, and to the entire team there for their warm hospitality. I would also like to thank my supervisors at Amsterdam UMC, Drs. Hans Crezee and Petra Kok, for their continued mentorship and support throughout this process.
Photo taken in front of the Core building at UZ Gent.
From left to right: Dr. Hooman Salavati, Pouya Namakshenas, Prof. Wim Ceelen, and Dr. Sarah Cosyns.