# John Haanen

Source: https://onco.cc/people/john-haanen/  
OnCo record `john-haanen` (Person). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

John Haanen led the first randomised phase 3 trial of TIL therapy, which beat ipilimumab in melanoma.

## Summary

John Haanen is a medical oncologist at the Netherlands Cancer Institute (NKI-AvL) and Professor at Leiden University Medical Center. His specialisms are melanoma, TIL therapy and immunotherapy. He led the first randomised phase 3 trial of tumour-infiltrating lymphocyte therapy, a Dutch and Danish study comparing TIL treatment with ipilimumab in advanced melanoma, reported in the New England Journal of Medicine, in which the cell therapy beat ipilimumab on progression-free survival. He also helped write the ESMO guidelines on immunotherapy toxicity. His record links him to lifileucel and ipilimumab, and his publications are listed on PubMed.

## Fields

- Kind: Person
- Last checked: 2026-09-08
- Role: Medical Oncologist, Netherlands Cancer Institute; Professor, Leiden University Medical Center
- Specialisms: Melanoma; TIL therapy; Immunotherapy

## Sources

- PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=Haanen%20JB%5BAuthor%5D%20tumor-infiltrating%20lymphocytes

## Connected records

- cancers: [Melanoma](https://onco.cc/cancers/melanoma/)
- technologies: [TIL therapy](https://onco.cc/technologies/til-therapy/)
- drugs: [Ipilimumab](https://onco.cc/drugs/ipilimumab/), [Lifileucel](https://onco.cc/drugs/lifileucel/)
- institutions: [Leiden University Medical Center](https://onco.cc/institutions/lumc-leiden/), [Netherlands Cancer Institute (NKI-AvL)](https://onco.cc/institutions/nki/)
- ideas: [Select patients for cell therapy by whether their tumour holds reactive T cells](https://onco.cc/ideas/idea-bio2-til-reactivity-selection/), [Treat the draining lymph node before removing it](https://onco.cc/ideas/idea-bio2-lymph-node-immune-priming/)
- key papers: [CheckMate 067 at ten years: nivolumab plus ipilimumab produces long-term survival in half of patients with advanced melanoma](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-checkmate-067-10-year-nejm-2025/), [NADINA: two doses of ipilimumab plus nivolumab before surgery beat a year of nivolumab after surgery in stage III melanoma](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-nadina-nejm-2024/), [NICHE-2: a month of nivolumab and ipilimumab before surgery clears mismatch-repair-deficient colon cancer in most patients](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-niche-2-nejm-2024/), [Rohaas 2022: the first randomised trial of TIL therapy, against ipilimumab, in advanced melanoma](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-rohaas-til-vs-ipilimumab-nejm-2022/)

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