“It's great to be able to contribute to something that transcends myself”

Research into a completely new treatment for cancer is difficult to finance. For breakthroughs, researchers need funds -, like the funds that Marc Wiewel raises for research into metastatic prostate cancer. He visited Wouter Vogel at the NKI.

The donor: Marc Wiewel, who runs 18 half marathons to raise money for Wouter Vogel's research in the NKI.

Relationship to the Netherlands Cancer Institute: Marc has metastatic prostate cancer and received radiotherapy at the NKI, delivered by Wouter Vogel.

”I received extensive radiation treatment at the NKI. My physician, Dr. Vogel, is a very competent, amiable man. He is not a panic-monger and he only takes action when it is truly necessary. At one point, he told me about his research into a new treatment. If I hadn’t had metastases in my bones, I would have been eligible to participate in his study. Because I still wanted to do something for future patients, I took action. The study expects a significant extension of life expectancy and possibly more frequent recovery. I had never heard of recovery as a possibility for people with prostate cancer that has metastasized to the lymph nodes. So I would like to commit myself to that. It’s great to be able to contribute to something that transcends myself.'

'I am now raising money for Dr. Vogel's research through my running. Previously I have been involved in fundraising for cancer research for another foundation for 10 years. And yes, now I have cancer myself. It is what it is and I have to deal with it. My ultimate goal is to raise 108,000 euros or at least a multiple of the "giving number" 18. I have come up with various campaigns. If even half of them succeed, I will surpass my goal. I’m organizing  a benefit dinner, a pub quiz, a raffle, an art project and a padel tournament among other things.'
'Dr. Vogel took such good care of me that I was able to rebuild my fitness level. Exercise is always good, but we had to look at what I was capable of. I started off by walking a lot. It's a good distraction for me and it's very meditative. The fact that I can help other people with my actions is fantastic.'

Would you like to sponsor Marc or participate in one of his events to raise money for research at the NKI? Read more at 18marcssuperhalfs.nl.

'Sometimes a small part of a study can have the biggest effect'

The physician-researcher: Nuclear medicine physician and radiotherapist Wouter Vogel.

Research areas: Vogel is researching the effects of a new treatment for prostate cancer with metastases in the lymph nodes.

'I don't do this work on my own. Denise Hoogenkamp  technical physician Denise Hoogenkamp and physician-researcher Lotte Zuur conduct the research and are indispensable to this entire story. They work hard to implement what Marc makes possible.'

'I am Marc's radiotherapist and he told me that he r sponsored runs. I organized his treatment in such a way that he could continue to run as much as possible. That gave him a very important drive and meaning in life. And I think that is very beautiful. All respect goes to him, he simply buckles down and does it. At one point he indicated that he also wanted to commit himself to research at the NKI. I think that is very admirable, so I am also committed to making it possible for him.'

'We are investigating a new treatment method for prostate cancer that has spread to the lymph nodes. The first results are very promising. When we devised the study, we received medicine and compensation from the manufacturer. But we gradually came to realize that the treatment could be even stronger than we initially thought. The patients were doing so well and experienced so little discomfort that the dose of the medicine could be increased. That is why we wanted to expand the study, which resulted in unexpected additional costs. But fortunately we don’t need as much money to expand an already running study than to start a completely new study. In these cases, you can actually achieve a lot with a relatively limited amount. Sometimes a small part of a study is the biggest challenge, but it can also have the biggest effect.'

'When patients have metastases in the lymph nodes, we generally can no longer operate on them, as we usually cannot remove all the lymph nodes. We then treat tgem with radiation in combination with hormone therapy. That is quite a good and robust treatment, meaning that after 5 years about half of the patients are disease-free. But we can’t reach disease-free survival for the other half yet. So there is certainly still room for improvement. By using this new medicine, Lutetium-PSMA, at the same time as radiotherapy, we hope that the disease will be cleared up in even more people. This combination is a new treatment and that is exciting.'

'Thanks to the additional study expansion that Marc makes possible, we can give an extra group of patients a higher dose of the medicine, which is something that is currently being done. We hope to have the results around Christmas, and then the study will be complete.'

Would you also like to contribute to research? There are various possibilities.