Center for Quality of Life

Why supportive care and treatment?

Cancer can have an enormous impact on your life. The illness and its treatment can cause physical problems as well as mental or social issues. Finding the right care at the right time can make a tremendous difference The Netherlands Cancer Institute views supportive care as an important part of oncological care during and after treatment. Supportive care is all treatment that is not aimed to treat your cancer but instead aims to relieve symptoms and problems and to improve the quality of life of patients and their loved ones.

Scientific research

Scientific research has a prominent role at the Center for Quality of Life. Quality care starts with understanding the effects cancer and its treatment can have on the quality of life, and finding meaningful interventions.

Why do some patients have problems while others don't? And how can we best guide and support our patients and their loved ones? We run trials to find out when specific problems surface and whether our treatment and interventions are effective. This will help us deliver the best personalized care possible to our patients and their loved ones.

Running trials at the Center for Quality of Life

MOVE-Fit study (M17MOV): multicenter trial looking into the attainability of movement intervention during chemotherapy for head and neck cancer.
P16HNR: multicenter trial looking into the quality of follow-up care for patients with head and neck cancer (a prospective observational multicenter study).
PABLO study: multicenter trial looking into the efficacy of movement stimulation through the internet, with or without additional physical therapy coaching.
HEART study: multicenter trial looking into the possible effects of training during chemotherapy for breast cancer on the heart.
CPIB study (M17CPI): multicenter trial looking into the usefulness of the communication participation questionnaire.
CALM study: study looking into the attainability of offering conversations for patients with metastatic cancer according to a new method from Canada: Managing Cancer and Living Meaningfully (CALM). CALM has a positive effect on the quality of life of patients and can help prevent depression. The study investigates whether this therapy works just as well in the Netherlands as it does in Canada.