Jan Molenaar appointed Professor of Precision Medicine in Pediatric Cancer

Utrecht University has appointed Jan Molenaar as Professor of Precision Medicine in Pediatric Cancer as of 1 April 2021. The chair was created to develop specific, custom-tailored treatments for pediatric cancer – the leading cause of death for children under the age of 12. According to Molenaar, specific treatments can result in increased survival rates and fewer side effects. “Current research on pediatric cancer leans too much on cancer in adults.”

In the Netherlands, around 600 children are diagnosed with cancer each year, and one quarter will not survive the disease. That makes cancer the leading cause of death in children under the age of 12. Around 70 percent of the children that do survive the disease will suffer serious health complaints later in life. Despite the great progress made in the treatment of pediatric cancer over the past few years, the chance of survival has not significantly improved.

In his new position, Jan Molenaar will work to improve the treatment of pediatric cancer. In the process, he will embark on paths that diverge from the usual practice in cancer research. “Current research on pediatric cancer leans too much on cancer in adults”, says Molenaar. “Some important results have been made in that area, and we use them to develop therapies for cancer in children. But those results don’t necessarily relate to childhood cancer. As a consequence, children receive therapies that aren’t optimally attuned to their disease, which leads to lower survival rates and more side effects.”

Different forms of cancer

The differences between both forms of cancer are much larger than is often assumed. One difference is that often different genes are involved. Around 75 percent of the ‘cancer genes’ in adult cancer play no role in pediatric cancer. By looking for the genetic markers specific to childhood cancer, Molenaar believes that it should be possible to develop therapies targeted specifically at cancer in children. “Our goal is to look for specific genetic targets for pediatric cancer, and to develop therapies to treat them.”

Nanomedicines

Molenaar’s research will begin with the question of how childhood cancer differs at the genetic level. ‘What are the differences in the DNA of tumours in children? And how can we come up with treatments for that? This will result in completely new medications, based on new molecules”, according to Molenaar.

One of the possible treatments Molenaar will explore involves packaging the medication in miniscule structures, which should make it possible to deliver the medication to specific locations in the body. The advantage to this is that the drugs will only affect the tumour tissue, leaving healthy tissue undisturbed. Molenaar will also try to create new combinations of medications, called PROTACs, to specifically target the defective genes in pediatric cancer.

More awareness of pediatric cancer

Cancer therapies targeted specifically at children are still the exception, rather than the rule, according to Molenaar. “The pharmaceutical industry pays only marginal attention to childhood cancer, because the number of patients is so much smaller. So it’s up to academic institutions to take on the challenge. And it’s wonderful to be able to do that together with some strong partners.” Molenaar will conduct his research in close collaboration with Utrecht University’s Faculty of Science, the Princess Máxima Center, UMC Utrecht and Sanquin.

Industry and European collaboration

In order to bring the future treatment methods into clinical practice, Molenaar is also working with several academic and industrial partners throughout Europe. He believes that collaboration at such a large scale will present major benefits. “Since pediatric cancer is relatively rare, you have to conduct the clinical trials at a broad, European level. One added benefit is that if a trial is effective, you can quickly apply it throughout Europe and reach many more patients.”

CV Jan Molenaar

Prof. Jan Molenaar is affiliated with Utrecht University and the Princess Máxima Center, where he has led his own research group since 2016. In 2011, he was named a Fellow of the KWF Dutch Cancer Society. In 2016, he received an ERC Starting Grant from the European Research Council, and a Vidi grant from NWO.