Cancer

Cancer was the most common cause of death in the Netherlands last year, with 31 percent of the 150 thousand people who passed away dying of the disease, Statistics Netherlands reported on Tuesday.

More men than women died of cancer last year. 35 percent of the men who died in 2017 died of cancer, compared to 27 percent of women. The number of people who died of cancer also increased. Last year 47 thousand people in the Netherlands died of cancer, compared to 45,279 in 2016, 44,195 in 2015 nd 42,984 in 2014. 

The Dutch Network for Addiction Care, an umbrella organization for various organizations dealing with addiction, is joining a major lawsuit against the tobacco industry. "The cigarette is a criminal product and all 'dealers' must be dealt with. This product is so harmful. It's unbelievable that it is just in the supermarket", spokesperson Robert van de Graaf of the network said to AD.

Eight cinemas in Amsterdam are paying tribute to Mayor Eberhard van der Laan. Next week these cinemas will screen a 2 minute long video, which Amsterdam residents made after Van der Laan announced his lung cancer diagnosis earlier this year, during the previews before the main movie begins, Jean Mineur, cinema advertising director, said to RTL Nieuws.

Dutch marathon swimmer Maarten van der Weijden managed to swim across the Channel between England and France twice in succession on Sunday. He arrived on the English coast in Dover late last night, after leaving from that same coast during the early hours of Sunday morning, RTL Nieuws reports. 

Twelve year old David from Noord-Holland does not have to undergo chemotherapy treatment for his brain tumor if he does not want to, the court in Alkmaar ruled on Friday. David's father turned to court in an effort to force his son to get treatment. With chemotherapy, the boy has 80 percent chance of survival, without his chances are 50 percent, the Telegraaf reports.

The number of euthanasia cases in the Netherlands increased by 10 percent last year. A total of 6,091 people died through euthanasia, 557 more than in 2015, according to an annual report by the euthanasia review committees, AD reports.

Most of the euthanasia cases involved cancer. There were also many cases of nervous system disorders and cardiovascular diseases. The number of euthanasia cases involving patients with dementia, psychiatric disorders or old age ailments also increased. 

Skin cancer is an increasingly common diagnosis in the Netherlands. Last year a total of 15,836 Dutch were diagnosed with skin cancer, compared to 14,738 in 2015, according to figures from the comprehensive cancer center of the Netherlands IKNL. Skin cancer is the most prevalant type of cancer in the Netherlands, NU.nl reports.

Over the past 26 years, the number of skin cancer cases in the Nethelands increased by 308 percent. In 1990 only 3,882 Dutch were diagnosed with this form of cancer. The number of skin cancer cases doubled since 2005. 

Amsterdam mayor Eberhard van der Laan has been diagnosed with metastatic lung cancer, he announced in a letter to the city council on Friday. More tests will give more clarity on his prognosis, but "it seems that the diagnosis gives little reason for optimism", he said in the letter, Het Parool reports.

Athletic events played on artificial turf mixed with rubber granules in the Netherlands does not significantly increase exposure to carcinogenic chemicals, states an unreleased report by Dutch health authority RIVM, according to the Telegraaf. Still, the agency recommends a wider scale international study of the rubber granules, often made by recycling automotive tires, as regulations governing the practice are inconsistent from country to country.

Radboud UMC in Nijmegen is launching an experimental treatment against skin cancer from December 1st. From then hundreds of people with skin cancer can receive an experimental vaccine to prevent the disease recurrence, RTL Nieuws reports.

The vaccine activates the patients' immune system to turn against this form of cancer. The treatment is intended for skin cancer patients who had lymph node metastases removed recently. A total of 210 people can participate in the experiment, but other patients can also get the vaccine as a basic treatment. 

The Klaus Ross Center, the German alternative cancer clinic under investigation since several patients died earlier this month, blames the death of three patients on an error made in making an infusion, founder Andre Hartel said in an interview with the Telegraaf.