The annual DRUP symposium took place in the Central Museum in Utrecht on 11 November 2024.
In the DRUP trial, patients with metastatic cancer who have exhausted all treatment options are given treatments based on genetic faults found in their tumor's DNA. Instead of traditional therapies, patients receive existing drugs that are already approved for other cancers sharing similar DNA abnormalities. This approach allows for a personalized treatment strategy, offering hope when conventional treatments have failed. To date, over 1900 patients have started treatment in DRUP.
The event began with a session led by study coordinators Karlijn Verkerk and Ilse Spiekman, who shared the latest findings and key outcomes from the crizotinib and olaparib cohorts in DRUP. Iris Mimpen presented intriguing results from translational research on the microbiome, made possible by data collected from the DRUP trial. Hans Timmer concluded the first session with promising results from the NTRK inhibitor cohorts in DAP.
Following dinner, former and current study coordinator Laurien Zeverijn and Maud van Maren took the stage to discuss the impact of protocol waivers on study results.
In the next session, Hans Gelderblom emphasized the importance of European collaboration in advancing cancer research. His talk highlighted the PRIME-ROSE and PCM4EU projects, a collaboration across European research institutions.
The final session of the evening focused on the future of the DRUP and DAP trials, with keynote speakers Sahar van Waalwijk van Doorn-Khosrovani from CZ and Ilse van Hensbeek from AstraZeneca offering valuable insights from their respective organizations. Their presentations sparked a lively discussion, offering different perspectives on the future of personalized cancer treatment.
To conclude the evening, Joris van de Haar presented his innovative research on microsatellite instability and gamma delta T cells.
We would like to thank all attendees and speakers for their contributions. We are looking forward to the next DRUP symposium in one year!