Specialization
Esophageal adenocarcinoma, Stroma activation,
Focus of research
During my PhD I will coordinate a multicenter trial on using a biological to counteract stromal activation in esophageal adenocarcinoma. Patients suffering from esophageal adenocarcinoma are currently treated with chemoradiation and surgery, but their prognosis remains abysmal. Stromal activation is hypothesized to lead to resilience to chemoradiation. In work done previously by the Van Laarhoven-Bijlsma group a blood-borne marker for stromal activation was found. This marker will be used to stratify patients with esophageal carcinoma in a high stromal activation and a low stromal activation group. We will then randomize these patients to receive a biological that is hypothesized to counteract this stromal activation. We hope to find that patients with high stromal activation based on this blood-borne marker will benefit from this biological in terms of response to chemoradiation.