Mitochondria in normal cells accumulate mutations with age. Most mitochondrial mutations in cancer result from healthy mutation accumulation. Cancer therapies do not result in many mitochondrial mutations
Read More"To beat cancer, we need to know how it starts."
Identifying the rate limiting steps of cancer initiation in human tissues is challenging as many factors can play a role. The mutations in the genomes of cells can serve as an archive of their life history. We aim to decode these archives in order to pinpoint the initiation of cancer and identify causal processes in human tissues. To study the etiology of cancer, we have 3 research themes in our lab.
Learn MoreOrgan-specific cancer incidence varies significantly throughout the human body, which cannot be solely explained by different exposures to mutagenic environmental. Adult stem cells are likely the cellular targets for accumulation of pre-cancerous successive oncogenic hits, which eventually can give rise to tumor development, owing to their life-long capacity to propagate mutations to both self-renewing progeny and downstream progenitors. We aim to identify and study the mutational processes that are active in adult stem cells of various organs and precede oncogenic transformation.
Learn MoreDNA is the largest biomolecule in the cells, which unlike other biomolecules is irreplaceable. The processes causing mutations leave characteristic patterns in the DNA, which can serve as a functional readout of mutagenic and/or DNA repair activity. In addition, phylogenetic relationships between different cells of the same individual can be exploited measure clonal dynamics within tissues. We aim to identify and study the mechanisms underlying characteristic mutation patterns in cancers as well as use mutations to retrospectively trace the cellular origin of cancer.
Learn MoreMost chemotherapeutic drugs act by fatally damaging the DNA or blocking the replication thereof. However, noncancerous cells are also damaged by treatment, which can result in the accumulation of DNA mutations in normal tissues with potentially adverse effects later in life, such as novel malignancies. Our goal is to study the mutational effects of cancer treatment in normal tissues of children in order to develop novel treatment strategies aimed at minimizing or preventing adverse late effects.
Learn MoreMitochondria in normal cells accumulate mutations with age. Most mitochondrial mutations in cancer result from healthy mutation accumulation. Cancer therapies do not result in many mitochondrial mutations
Read MoreToday the NYSCF Robertson Stem Cell Investigator Award was awarded in New York today to Dr. Ruben van Boxtel. Van Boxtel, will use the award to accelerate his research on the role of stem cells in the development and eventual prevention of adverse late effects in children cured of cancer.
Read MoreVind hier de presentatie van Ruben tijdens het Weekend van de Wetenschap 2022.
Read MoreEach year, the graduate school Cancer, Stem cells and Developmental biology gives an award to the PhD student with the best publication of that year. Today, the award was given to Jurrian de Kanter from our group for his two publications on the damaging effects of treatment in children with cancer.
Read MoreElevated mutational age in blood of children treated for cancer contributes to therapy-related myeloid neoplasms
Read More"The beginning of a new life: characterising somatic mutation accumulation in fetal stem cells"
Read MoreWhole-genome sequencing and mutational analysis of human cord-blood derived stem and progenitor cells
Read MoreDuring a 3 months-long program six teams were guided through setting up a venture plan, which takes an animal free scientific breakthrough in the life sciences and transformed it into a solid business case.
Read MoreTechnician
Postdoc
PhD Student
PhD student
PhD Student
Internship student
Chemotherapy increases the mutation burden of normal blood cells in cancer survivors. Only few drugs damage the DNA directly, while in most patients, chemotherapy-induced mutations are caused by processes similar to those present during normal aging. Cancer Discovery 2022
Read MoreAntiviral treatment with ganciclovir causes a unique mutational signature in stem cells of human transplant recipients. This signature was also found in therapy-related cancers and can cause cancer driver mutations. Cell Stem Cell 2021
Read MoreIn some children with acute myeloid leukemia, cancer cells have the same amount of DNA changes as healthy blood stem cells. Here, we show that these children have a poorer chance of survival compared to children whose leukemia has an above-average number of DNA changes. This study offers insight into how this form of blood cancer can develop in children. In the future, these findings may help identify which patients have a high-risk form of the disease. Blood Cancer Discovery 2021
Read MoreOur study describes a distinct mutational signature in colorectal cancer and implies that the underlying mutational process results directly from past exposure to bacteria carrying the colibactin-producing pks pathogenicity island. Nature 2020
Read MoreMutation accumulation during life can contribute to hematopoietic dysfunction; however, the underlying dynamics are unknown. Using mutations found in in acute myeloid leukemia, we construct a developmental lineage tree of human hematopoiesis, revealing a polyclonal architecture and providing evidence that developmental clones exhibit multipotency. Cell Reports 2018
Read MoreHere we determine genome-wide mutation patterns in human adult stem cells of the small intestine, colon and liver of human donors with ages ranging from 3 to 87 years by sequencing clonal organoid cultures derived from primary multipotent cells. Our results show that mutations accumulate steadily over time in all of the assessed tissue types, at a rate of approximately 40 novel mutations per year, despite the large variation in cancer incidence among these tissues. Nature 2016
Read MoreLink to all publications
Read MorePostdoc
Postdoc
PhD Student
PhD Student
PhD student
Postdoc
Bioinformatician