Floor van Haften

Every year, millions of cancer patients receive chemotherapy as standard treatment of care. Although the effects on tumors are well-studied, the direct and indirect effects of chemotherapy on the patient's immune system are largely unknown. This project aims to understand the impact of a specific type of chemotherapeutics -  anthracyclines -  on the activation, differentiation and distribution of immune cell subsets. To investigate these questions we use in vivo mouse models and perform ex vivo assays with human and mouse cells. Our ultimate goal is to use this knowledge to develop new strategies, in which we can rationally combine chemotherapy with immunotherapy.