Nico van Zandwijk

van Zandwijk was born in the Netherlands.{{cite web |title=Professor Nico van Zandwijk |url=https://www.europeanasbestosforum.org/spreker/professor-nico-van-zandwijk/ |website=European Asbestos Forum |access-date=13 June 2025}} He trained in medicine and later earned a PhD from the University of Amsterdam, becoming a specialist in internal medicine and thoracic oncology.{{cite web |title=Prof. Nico van Zandwijk – CV |url=https://www.sydney.edu.au/AcademicProfiles/profile/resource?urlid=nico.vanzandwijk&type=cv |website=University of Sydney |access-date=13 June 2025}} His early career was based in the Netherlands, where he began working in thoracic oncology before founding the Department of Thoracic Oncology at the Netherlands Cancer Institute (Antoni van Leeuwenhoekhuis) in 1985, where he served until 2008.{{cite web |title=Nico van Zandwijk |url=https://www.adscientificindex.com/scientist/nico-van-zandwijk/128358 |website=AD Scientific Index |access-date=13 June 2025}}

He was secretary and later chair of the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) Lung Cancer Cooperative Group from 1984 to 1992, and was a board member of the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC). He also served on the external advisory board for thoracic oncology at the Gustave Roussy Institute in Paris.

In 2008, van Zandwijk moved to Australia to become the inaugural director of the Asbestos Diseases Research Institute (ADRI) at Concord Hospital in Sydney. He was a founding member of the Australian Mesothelioma Registry and led the development of the Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma (2013), which were endorsed by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC).{{cite web |title=Guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of malignant pleural mesothelioma |url=https://atm.amegroups.org/article/view/20522/pdf |website=Annals of Translational Medicine |access-date=13 June 2025}} After stepping down as ADRI director, he was appointed senior staff specialist with the Sydney Local Health District and honorary staff member at the Department of Cell and Molecular Therapies, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital.

Van Zandwijk’s work spans translational cancer research and clinical trials. His research has focused on thoracic cancers, asbestos-related diseases and gene therapy. Notable projects include the EUROSCAN chemoprevention study, a 2017 phase I trial of microRNA-loaded minicells for mesothelioma and lung cancer,{{cite web |title=Safety and activity of microRNA-loaded minicells in mesothelioma |url=https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6123199/ |website=PMC |access-date=13 June 2025}} and an article on the therapeutic potential of synthetic microRNA mimics,{{cite web |title=Therapeutic potential of synthetic microRNA mimics based on the miR-15/107 consensus sequence |url=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/oncology/articles/10.3389/fonc.2020.00939/full |website=Frontiers in Oncology |access-date=13 June 2025}} as well as several widely cited articles on the global threat of asbestos-related cancers and mesothelioma epidemiology.{{cite web |title=The silent malignant mesothelioma epidemic: a call to action |url=https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanonc/article/PIIS1470-2045(22)00269-8/abstract |website=Lancet Oncology |access-date=13 June 2025}}

• van Zandwijk N et al. (2000). "EUROSCAN, a randomized trial of vitamin A and N-acetylcysteine". J Natl Cancer Inst.
• van Zandwijk N et al. (2013). "Guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of malignant pleural mesothelioma". J Thorac Dis.
• van Zandwijk N et al. (2017). "Safety and activity of microRNA-loaded minicells in mesothelioma". Lancet Oncology.
• van Zandwijk N, Reid G, Frank A (2020). "Asbestos-related cancers: the ‘Hidden Killer’ remains a global threat". Expert Review of Anticancer Therapy.
• van Zandwijk N et al. (2022). "The silent malignant mesothelioma epidemic: a call to action". Lancet Oncology.
• van Zandwijk N, Frank A (2024). "A multidisciplinary review of asbestos-related lung cancer". Lung Cancer.
• Reid G & van Zandwijk (2025). “Therapeutic potential of synthetic microRNA mimics based on the miR-15/107 consensus sequence”. Cancer Gene Therapy.

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Category:Dutch oncologists

Category:Australian oncologists

Category:Thoracic surgeons

Category:Cancer researchers

Category:Medical researchers

Category:20th-century Dutch physicians

Category:21st-century Dutch physicians

Category:University of Sydney people

Category:Academic staff of the University of Sydney

Category:Fellows of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians