Around 600 children in the Netherlands are diagnosed with cancer every year, and one in four children dies. Some ten years ago, the parents organisation (VOKK) and Dutch Childhood Oncology Group started working towards one national children’s cancer center that could accelerate advances in treatment. Those efforts led to the Princess Máxima Center for Pediatric Oncology: a unique center that brings together complex care, research and education&training for children with cancer in the Netherlands.
This concentration and integration of specialized pediatric oncology reflects our mission: to provide a cure and optimal quality of life for every child with cancer. Close cooperation between care and research, supported by excellent education and training, will lead to more children being cured of cancer, with fewer adverse effects later in life.
Princess Máxima Center became an independent organization caring for children with particular types of cancer in the autumn of 2014. These patients were treated on dedicated wards within the Wilhelmina Children’s Hospital (Wilhelmina Kinderziekenhuis, WKZ), part of the University Medical Center Utrecht (UMCU). Researchers began working under the banner of the Princess Máxima Center in 2016. Construction of our purpose-built center opposite the WKZ started in that same year, and the first patients moved into the new building on May 18, 2018, which is now fully operational. The hospital has 87 beds, and 35 beds on day-care. Within care, we have four departments: Hemato-Oncology, Solid Tumors, Neuro-Oncology and Quality-of-Life (including a separate late effects outpatient clinic). We have our own imaging facilities, diagnostic laboratories, and pathology. In addition, we share many facilities with the neighbouring WKZ/UMCU, such as radiotherapy, theatres and PICU. More than 500 researchers are dedicated to pediatric oncology, and work in our own research center with up-to-date facilities. We have many early clinical trials ongoing, and are an ITCC center.
The Academy facilitates all educational and training activities. The new department Máxima International is responsible for nearly 30 Twinning Partnerships in 4 regions, and hosts the International Patient Office for patients coming to the Máxima from abroad for specific treatment. In total, the Máxima now has more than 1600 employees.
