About
Dr. Christine Boers-Doets, PhD
Oncology nurse. Doctoral researcher. Founder of the Dutch centre of expertise for the side effects of cancer medicines.
Biography
From the bedside to international guidelines
I began my career as an oncology nurse, caring for people going through cancer treatment. Again and again I saw the same thing: powerful medicines undermined not by the cancer, but by side effects that left patients unable to continue.
That question — how do we keep people on treatment? — became my life’s work. I moved from the bedside into research, specialising in the dermatologic (skin) and oral, mucosal toxicities of targeted therapy, immunotherapy and endocrine treatment.
In 2019 I defended my PhD at Leiden University Medical Center with a dissertation titled “Towards a patient-driven approach to adverse events of targeted agents in oncology.” Along the way I co-developed the FACT-EGFRI-18 quality-of-life instrument and contributed to international MASCC and ESO–ESMO consensus guidelines.
Today I lead the CancerMed Side Effects Institute and NEBK — the Dutch Centre of Expertise for Side Effects of Cancer Medicines — teaching clinicians, guiding patients, and helping care organisations and industry raise the standard of adverse-event care.
Active member of MASCC, the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer.
Career milestones
Two decades building the field
- 2012Founded the IMPAQTT Foundation to advance patient-centred adverse-event care.
- 2013Established CancerMed to bring side-effect expertise to clinicians and industry.
- 2014Published The TARGET System Book, setting out her six-step method.
- 2019Awarded her PhD at Leiden University Medical Center; became Managing Director of CancerMed B.V.
- TodayLeads NEBK, the Dutch Centre of Expertise for Side Effects of Cancer Medicines.
Areas of expertise
What I specialise in
“Teach people that they can choose to take control of side effects.”
That belief runs through everything I do — because when side effects are controlled, cancer medicines finally get the chance to do their job.