Merks group

The focus of the Merks group is to answer key clinical questions in pediatric sarcoma treatment with the aim to improve cure and quality of life. As Chair of the European pediatric Soft tissue sarcoma Study Group (EpSSG) and Vice-Chair of the Executive Board of the EuroEwing Consortium (EEC) Merks’ aim is to coordinate, design and implement international prospective clinical trials, including translational research, focused on sarcoma across the pediatric and young adult age range. Research in pediatric sarcoma pre-eminently is a multidisciplinary collaboration including a diversity of basic, translational and clinical research partners.

Research lines

The Pediatric Sarcoma Imaging Group aims to design and implement innovative imaging studies to identify early biomarkers that predict outcome in clinical trials and individual patient care, and optimize staging. This entails a close collaboration with the PROVIDI lab of Alexander Leemans (Imaging Sciences Institute UMCU), Simone ter Horst and Bart de Keizer (Radiology UMCU) and prof. dr. Rick van Rijn (AUMC)

Individualized prediction of treatment-induced facial deformities and functional impairments for children with head and neck rhabdomyosarcoma (HN RMS)

This international (US, Fr, UK) multicenter multidisciplinary project aims to develop a decision support model that enables well-informed shared multimodal treatment decision making based on Adverse Event prediction for individual HN RMS patients.

Functional outcome and quality of life after local therapy for bone sarcoma in children

This multidisciplinary project aims to describe functional outcome and quality of life in bone sarcoma survivors with the ultimate goal to generate a prediction model for local therapy related adverse effects and functional outcome.

Recognition of cancer predisposition syndromes (CPS)

The aim is to develop strategies to guarantee recognition of established CPS in childhood cancer patients and identify potential new CPS in collaboration with the Kuiper group and Raoul Hennekam (AUMC).

Key publications

• Bisogno, G., De Salvo, G. L., Bergeron, C., Gallego Melcón, S., Merks, J. H., Kelsey, A., . . . European paediatric Soft tissue sarcoma Study, G. (2019). Vinorelbine and continuous low-dose cyclophosphamide as maintenance chemotherapy in patients with high-risk rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS 2005): a multicentre, open-label, randomised, phase 3 trial. The Lancet. Oncology. PubMed PMID: 31562043

• Vaarwerk, B., Bisogno, G., McHugh, K., Brisse, H. J., Morosi, C., Corradini, N., . . . Merks, J.H.M. (2019). Indeterminate Pulmonary Nodules at Diagnosis in Rhabdomyosarcoma: Are They Clinically Significant? A Report From the European Paediatric Soft Tissue Sarcoma Study Group. Journal of clinical oncology : official journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology. PubMed PMID: 30702969

• Vaarwerk, B., Mallebranche, C., Affinita, M. C., van der Lee, J. H., Ferrari, A., Chisholm, J. C., . . . Merks, J. H. M. (2019). Is surveillance imaging in pediatric patients treated for localized rhabdomyosarcoma useful? The European experience. Cancer. PubMed PMID: 31750944