Scientist: John Haanen

John Haanen profileJohn Haanen received his MD cum laude from Leiden University (the Netherlands) in 1988. Haanen is a consultant medical oncologist and scientific group leader at the Division of Molecular Oncology and Immunology, leads the research theme Immunotherapy and is Director of the Center for Cellular Therapy at the Netherlands Cancer Institute (NKI), Netherlands.

He is also Professor of Translational Immunotherapy of Cancer at Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC), Netherlands, and Head of Melanoma Clinic at the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois (CHUV) in Lausanne, Switzerland.

His current research focuses on the development of cellular therapies for solid tumors, neoadjuvant immunotherapies, and biomarker research. Clinically, his specialties include melanoma and other skin cancers, kidney cancer, and the management of immune-related adverse events. He has co-authored over 500 peer-reviewed articles. He serves on the Editorial Board of ESMO Open, Cancer Treatment Reviews, and Kidney Cancer, and is currently Editor-in-Chief of ESMO IOTECH.

Sick cancer cells under a microscope, oncology

Building a hopeful future for oncology: using people’s own cells in the fight against cancer

Insights of John Haanen, European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Lifetime Achievement Award winner. Professor Haanen and his team developed a promising new treatment for melanoma, a form of skin cancer. In 2022 alone more than 100 000 new cases of melanoma were reported in the EU. This treatment, known as tumour-infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) therapy, uses ...

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