Cornelis van den Berg

UMC Utrecht

In short, Cornelis van den Berg's research entails the following:

Improved residual disease detection after (chemo-)radiotherapy for locally advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma

For advanced head and neck cancer, the usual treatment involves preserving organs through (chemo)radiotherapy. However, there's a risk of about 20% of residual disease (detectable tumor) six months after treatment. Evaluating treatment response, whether clinically or with imaging, is challenging due to radiation effects mimicking tumor activity. This project aims to create an AI-based clinical decision support tool for radiologists and radiation oncologists. It will help assess tumor response and predict the risk of recurrent disease within the first two years post-treatment. The goal is to reliably distinguish between residual disease and post-treatment changes, improving the accuracy of assessing the need for salvage surgery and can individualize follow up schemes. This could enhance survival and quality of life while minimizing unnecessary procedures and reducing patient burden.