Linda Burger was medisch professional (afdelingsmanager bij het Amsterdam Medisch Centrum). Zij had uitgezaaide triple negative borstkanker, een gevaarlijke en moeilijk te behandelen variant. Zij is destijds overgestapt naar een excellent ziekenhuis, en heeft daar nieuwe “personalised” behandelmogelijkheden, met name een nieuwe trial met immuntherapie.
Linda is inmiddels overleden. Haar In Memoriam lees je hier >>
Interview in English:
I have triple negative breast cancer. Not hormone-sensitive. It was also clearly my own wish,
because I know from experience that in the AVL they do great cancer care but that’s also
where the protocols are devised. So not only where they’re administered, but also where
they’re researched and put together. And they’re always looking at new forms of treatment.
So that’s where I had to be. I really like it there because I notice that I also have very good
contact with my oncologist. I also told her very clearly what I want. I told her that I want to go
all the way. I really want to seize all the treatments that are still possible for me. In my case
this is the TONIC-study. This is a study in which immunotherapy is performed for my type of
cancer and for which I am eligible. And it’s not done in other hospitals. That makes it very
important for me to be there. Breast cancer and actually every type of cancer has become a
‘personalised’ disease so we can’t treat a group of breast cancer patients according to one
single protocol. They’re finding out more and more that it’s different for everyone at DNA
level. So you have to do a lot more than just follow a protocol, which a regular hospital or a
local hospital might tend towards. You really have to take a good look. What type of cancer
do I have and which treatment is currently the best fit? But also, what are my wishes about
treatment? Right now I want to go all the way, but I don’t know how I’ll feel about that after a
while. But right now I do. While someone else might already say “this isn’t for me”, because
it doesn’t feel right. For whatever reason. It’s different for everyone and it can change at any
moment. And I see that the AVL is in a position to give that personalised care. And that’s
very important.