Karijn Suijkerbuijk

UMC Utrecht

In short, Karijn Suijkerbuijk's research entails the following: 

Predicting immunotherapy response in advanced melanoma

'Immunotherapy with checkpoint inhibitors has importantly changed perspectives for many metastatic melanoma patients. Still, the majority of patients do not derive long-term benefit from this treatment. Currently, no single biomarker is available that can reliably predict who will and who will not respond to immunotherapy. If non-response could be predicted, patients could be spared the potential severe side effects of immunotherapy and start a more effective treatment. Aim of this study is to develop machine learning algorithms based on clinical data and histological images from the primary melanomas of 1500 immunotherapy- treated metastatic melanoma patients that can predict response to immunotherapy. The project is a collaboration between the UMC Utrecht (dr. Karijn Suijkerbuijk, dr. Willeke Blokx, prof. Paul van Diest, prof. René Eijkemans), the TU Eindhoven (dr. Mitko Veta, prof. Josien Pluim) and several Dutch melanoma treatment centers.'