News
-
An organ that disappears almost completely after puberty, but in rare cases can regrow in size and even harbor a tumor: the thymus, also known as the thymus. Physician-researcher Florit Marcuse, affiliated with Maastricht University's Faculty of Health Medicine and Life Sciences, examined this relatively unknown organ and found that care for these patients could be further improved, both in the Netherlands and abroad.
-
In women trying to conceive, 1-3% experience repeated miscarriages. For more than 50% of these women, a cause for the miscarriages has yet to be found. New research from Maastricht University (UM) and the Maastricht University Medical Centre+ (MUMC+) shows that the immune system’s Natural Killer (NK) cells may be involved. In women with repeated miscarriages, the NK cells have different characteristics.
-
The European Commission has awarded €23 million to set up a new platform for drug repurposing: the use of existing drugs in diseases other than those for which they were originally developed. In the next seven years UM will develop the platform REPO4EU (precision drug REPurpOsing for Europe) together with various international partners. A congress in Maastricht held on 2-3 September kicked off the project.
-
Our liver is a special organ: if you cut away part of it, in most cases a new piece of liver will grow back. If someone has cancer in the liver, the affected part of the liver can be surgically removed. But you can only do this if at least 30% of the liver remains. For many patients whose remaining liver is too small, this means that they cannot undergo surgery. But thanks to international research from Maastricht UMC+, the treatment options for cancer in the liver have now been significantly expanded.
-
An unhealthy lifestyle can have disastrous consequences for the liver.
Fatty liver disease can develop, a chronic liver condition that can lead to liver failure or even liver cancer. Fatty liver also contributes to the development and worsening of diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
-
Determining whether a suspected spot on the skin is a basal cell carcinoma - the most common form of skin cancer - can be done in a large number of cases with a scan of the skin instead of an invasive biopsy. This has less impact on the patient, is faster and can lead to cost savings in healthcare.
-
In a new study, PhD student Esther Boudewijns developed two practical tools to improve the implementation of cleaner cooking in low-wage countries. The results of the research will be published on June 16 in The Lancet Planetary Health.