Erasmus University Medical Center Rotterdam

Prinicipal Investigator

Project Staff

Institute Presentation

The Erasmus MC is an independent University Medical Centre affiliated to the Erasmus University and is the countries’ largest tertiary referral centre for endocrine tumours. The Department of Pathology has a longstanding experience with endocrine tumour research, esp. with regard to PCC. Attention has been focussed on the distinction between benign and malignant tumours, including the development of a unique mouse model for malignant PCC. Being a pathology department, there is strong focus on tissue quality, both human and animal, and on integration of histology, immunohistochemistry (Dr. de Krijger), molecular biology (Dr. Dinjens) with clinical data, through collaboration with the Department of Internal Medicine. Most recently, a unique immunohistochemical assay has been developed which allows the prediction of the type of genetic mutation present in PCC (Dr. van Nederveen, Drs. Gaal), and also gives information on the pathogenetic process in the tumour cells. For adrenocortical cancer (ACC), the prognostic value of several classification systems was investigated, providing a baseline for further analysis, which will be performed on a national tissue micro-array of ACC, which is available for this project.
Dr. Ronald R. de Krijger is associated editor of Endocrine Pathology and member of the editorial board of Virchows Archiv, a general pathology journal. He serves as membership secretary of PRESSOR, the pheochromocytoma research and support organization.

The Department of Pathology of the Erasmus MC is leader of WP3 (adrenal cancer pathology platform) and will take part in WP1, WP2 and WP4 as a collaborator. Within WP3 the main task is to perform validation studies regarding existing markers and those becoming available from other work packages, esp. WP4. These will include histology, immunohistochemistry, in situ hybridisation and will be focussed on markers with predictive value for the biological behaviour of tumours (benign vs. malignant, prognosis). As a pathology department with extensive experience in biobanking, there will collaboration with WP1. Our experience with the development of an animal model for malignant phaeochromocytoma (PCC) will be shared with WP2.