Reactive oxygen species damage our cells and our body, while antioxidants ensure that these oxygen radicals are rendered harmless. Antioxidants therefore protect our cells and our body against disease. This thesis has shown that the interaction between reactive oxygen species and antioxidants is very important in the treatment of cancer. Many cancer treatments (including radiation) use reactive oxygen species to kill cancer cells. Other forms of therapy such as tamoxifen, a commonly used drug against breast cancer, also increase the amount of reactive oxygen species. However, cancer cells can be resistant or become resistant to these radicals through long-term exposure. This is because the cancer cells can produce high amounts of antioxidants that protect them from oxygen radicals. As a result, the cancer cells do not respond to the treatment, which increases cancer mortality. In addition, this thesis describes two ways to make cancer cells sensitive to treatments again, so that we have a better chance of successful treatments in the future.
Flavia Reinema (1995) performed research within the fields of neuroscience and sepsis during her studies before obtaining her Master's degree in Biomedical sciences at Radboud University in 2020. In 2020 she started with her PhD research as part of the Radiotherapy and OncoImmunology group at the Department of Radiation Oncology of Radboudumc. Currently, she is working as project manager of NESTOR at the Department of Clinical Genetics of Radboudumc.