Esther Troost hopes to defend her PhD thesis

By Paul Rijken on 03 February 2010

On March 10th, Esther Troost, MD, (resident in training on our department) hopes to defend her PhD thesis entitled “Validation of PET imaging for non-invasive characterization of head and neck tumors”.

Hypoxia in tumor cells and accelerated tumor cell repopulation as response to irradiation are two tumor characteristics of head and neck tumors adversely affecting radiation treatment outcome. These characteristics can be imaged by means of positron emission tomography (PET).

Troost has assessed the value of two PET tracers for the characterization of head and neck tumors prior to and during treatment. She has accomplished this by conducting animal experiments and by voluntarily including head and neck cancer patients in clinical trials.

The findings of these studies are important steps in the direction of personalized treatment of head and neck cancer patients. Only patients profiting from intensified treatment are exposed to the accompanying side-effects.

The defense of the PhD thesis will be held during a public meeting in the Aula of the Radboud University Nijmegen starting at 10.30 hrs.

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