News

New treatment successful for therapy-resistant ovarian cancer

4 April 2024

An international study led by UZ Leuven shows that ovarian cancer patients that are treated with an antibody in combination with chemotherapy survive longer than after a treatment with classic chemotherapy. This finding is a big step in the treatment of ovarian cancer.

UZ Leuven and CHU Luik to become external breast milk bank

19 March 2024

Belgium is getting two external breast milk banks: one at UZ Leuven and one at CHU Luik. These donor banks will not only help premature babies on their way in their own hospital, but also to provide other hospitals in Flanders and Wallonia with breast milk in future.

Role of pre-TCR-alfa in immunodeficiency further unraveled

8 March 2024

Leuven doctors colloborated on an international study that discovered that mutations in the gene for pre-TCR-α can lead to immunodeficencies and auto-immune diseases in some carriers. The results have been published in the scientific journal Science.

UZ Leuven best Belgian hospital in top 20 in Europe according to Newsweek ranking

5 March 2024

For the sixth year in a row, the American magazine Newsweek and the data platform Statista drew up a list of the world's best hospitals: World's Best Hospitals 2024. In it, UZ Leuven is the first Belgian hospital in position 44, achieving a top score of 93.17%.

‘Mini lungs’ from amniotic fluid cells predict the success of lung surgery in foetus

4 March 2024

Researchers from London and Leuven were able to make organoids from amniotic fluid for the first time. This allows them to predict how the organs if an unborn baby will react right after being born. Organoïds are threedimensional ‘mini-organs’ in a culture dish, mimic the structure and function of the organs from which they originate. UZ Leuven wants to use this technique in future to better predict how the lungs of an unborn baby will react to a surgical procedure in the uterus.

Rare diseases day

29 February 2024

On 29 February, literally a rare day, there is worldwide attention for rare diseases. In Belgium, more than half a million people suffer from a rare disorder. Read the stories of Fleur (21) and Seth (4), who have been monitored at UZ Leuven since childhood.

Record number of liver transplants in 2023 at UZ Leuven

19 February 2024

In 2023 there was a record number of liver transplants at UZ Leuven. The remarkable increase is partly due to technological evolutions that allow the use of donor livers of people that died of a cardiac arrest. It also reduced the waiting list for liver transplants in 2023.

Five myths about epilepsy

12 February 2024

Did you know that more than 60,000 people in Belgium suffer from epilepsy and that the disorder is not that rare at all? And that an epileptic seizure is certainly not always accompanied by convulsions? Paediatric neurologist prof. dr. Katrien Jansen helps dispel five myths about epilepsy.

Allergy medication as treatment for irritable bowel syndrome

9 February 2024

Good news for patientst with irritable bowel syndrome: a recent study, coordinated by UZ Leuven, has shown that the allergy medication ebastine can reduce the symptoms of the disorder.

Leuven researchers find biomarker to predict success of immunotherapy in liver cancer

12 January 2024

Leuven researchers used single cell technology to look at the deepest level of the cells in the tumour and discovered a biomarker that can predict whether a patient with liver cancer will react to immunotherapy or not. The study was published in Nature Communications.

Researchers develop a way to make immunotherapy work better for melanoma patients

9 January 2024

Leuven researchers have developed a new way to make immunotherapy work better for melanoma patients that are currently not reacting to their treatment. By targeting a specific type of melanoma cells, the reaction to immunotherapy can be improved.

Little Nirvana: gaming technology distracts children during stressful or painful procedures

3 January 2024

The European research project Little Nirvana, with the support of both KU Leuven and UZ Leuven, examines how gaming technology can distract children that have to undergo painful procedures. Little Nirvana has since been successfully tested in more than 100 patients, including at UZ Leuven.