National cancer center to set up in Utrecht

A new large-scale diagnostic center for cancer research is set to be established in Utrecht, Hans Clevers, the outgoing president of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Sciences (KNWA), announced in the program De Kennis van Nu, RTL reports. The project will cost about 25 million euros. The center will examine the stem cells of patients with cancer and other diseases for their sensitivity to drugs. In time, this will lead to patients receiving customized treatment. The project is still in its infancy. "We are starting very small, with patients of the Antoni van Leeuwenhoek Hospital. But we want to increase that to about 40 thousand patients. This is not a hospital, but a diagnostic center." Clevers said. According to Clevers, it is very important for such a center to be established in the Netherlands. "We have made unexpected discoveries on the development of cancer here and the techniques to grow healthy cells come from our laboratories. We have to develop this knowledge further here in the Netherlands." Clevers also stated that health insurers see the importance of such research and are willy to put out 20 million euros to get the project started.