Laboratory of Hematology

Cell Therapy & Immune Therapy

The immune system is a powerful defense mechanism against foreign pathogens, but can also clear altered or damaged cells, such as cancer cells.

For that reason, hematological cancers can be treated with immunotherapy, such as the well-established treatment of  allogeneic stem cell transplantation, to induce durable remissions and even cure in patients.

However, persistence and recurrence of malignant disease is often observed in these patients due to inadequate induction and/or reactivation of tumor-reactive immune responses or via  to immunosuppressive mechanisms exploited by the tumor cells.

Therefore, potent new and/or improved immunotherapies are required to boost anti-tumor immunity in patients with hematological malignancies. In the translational research program of Dr. Harry Dolstra different immunotherapeutic strategies are investigated.

Molecular Hematology

The unit Molecular Hematology Research (MHR) performs research in close collaboration with the unit Molecular Hematology Diagnostics (MHD).

The main goal is to unravel molecular mechanisms that underlie blood disorders, in particular disorders of the myeloid subset of blood cells. These myeloid diseases comprise acute myeloid leukemia (AML), myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPN) and platelet disorders. The close collaboration between MHR and MHD enables the study of primary patient material (cells and DNA), which is of great value.

Every type of cancer arises from a cell that contains defects in its DNA; the defects confer a growth advantage upon the malignant cell, allowing it  to outcompete healthy cells. The mutated DNA encodes amongst others transcriptional regulators and epigenetic regulators, proteins that are involved in the control of gene expression. We study mutations in the DNA;  evolution of malignant clones; and epigenetic factors, epigenetic profiles, transcription factors and transcriptional regulation in normal and malignant blood cell formation (hematopoiesis). At present, five main topics are studied by several postdocs, PhD students, technicians and master/bachelor students, under the supervision of prof. J.H. Jansen and dr. B.A. van der Reijden.