Cancer
In 2007, the School supported the MoleMate trial, led by Dr Fiona Walter and the Cancer Group at the Primary Care Unit in Cambridge. The trial explored the management of the serious skin cancer melanoma in primary care, showing that a novel diagnostic aid was no more effective in improving the management of suspicious pigmented lesions than the routine application of an existing checklist, as recommended by NICE guidelines. Findings from the MoleMate trial were used to develop Dr Walter’s NIHR Clinician Scientist award, funding the MelaTools studies, which investigates ways to help patients and GPs diagnose melanoma earlier.
The DISCOVERY programme – collaborations and further research funding
Cross-School collaborations - resulted in 5 institutions and a Primary Care Trust and led to a NIHR programme award in 2010. The research aimed to optimise the diagnosis of symptomatic cancer in primary care (PI Hamilton, Exeter; deputy PI Walter, Cambridge).
The DISCOVERY programme’s influential set of cross-institutional national and international research studies set out to explore, test and describe new or improved ways to help GPs and primary care teams detect cancer early in primary care. The programme has delivered more than 24 publications in high-impact journals and three completed PhDs to date, and would not have been possible without School support.
- The CAPER studies identified symptom risk profiles for a number of cancers, including kidney, bladder, prostate, breast, uterus, ovary, oesophageal-gastric, pancreas, lymphoma, leukaemia
- The SYMPTOM studies collected prospective data from patients as they were referred with symptoms suspicious of lung, colorectal and pancreatic cancer, as well as data from GP and hospital records. These studies highlight that healthcare professionals in both primary and specialist care should have an increased awareness of the risk of cancer among people with comorbid conditions, and highlight the risk of mis-attributing potential cancer symptoms in those with mental health problems
- The PIVOT studies identified patient preferences for, and experiences of, referral for investigation for cancer symptoms.
Impact on public awareness
Findings from these research programmes have informed national public awareness campaigns and media discussion about reducing the patient interval by encouraging appropriate help-seeking for suspicious symptoms. The Cambridge study was used in some of the ‘Be Clear on Cancer campaigns’, launched in 2011 by the Department of Health and which is still ongoing in 2017.
Impact on clinical practice
Overall, these research programmes have raised awareness amongst GPs of cancer diagnostics through publishing and discussion in the press and high impact journals.
Programme findings were cited as underpinning evidence for guidance from NICE in 2015 in NG12. Individual studies have informed specific areas of activity: for example, the DISCOVERY programme’s CAPER studies provided information on the risk for each symptom on its own and each combination of cancer symptoms. Summary information was provided directly to GPs in easy access formats.
Impact on commissioners and policy-makers
Early evidence suggests that Risk Assessment Tools can be applied to improve referral rates, conversion rates and detection rates in colorectal cancer. The PIVOT studies showed that patients clearly want testing at a lower threshold than is current in the NHS. Evidence was submitted to inform the revision of NICE Guidance NG12 and to inform international cancer diagnostic guidelines and diagnostic pathways.
Impact on this field of research:
Taken together, these research studies have helped to drive a national ambition to achieve earlier cancer diagnosis, which in turn, is driving up investment in research on diagnostics in primary care. The first CRUK Catalyst award, made to the international CanTest Collaborative in 2016, led from Cambridge, will increase the capacity and sustainability of cancer detection research and provide for the first International School for Cancer Detection Research in Primary Care.
- About us
- Who we are
-
Our teams
- Richard Hobbs
- Chris Salisbury
- Paul Little
- Peter Bower
- Carl Heneghan
- Elaine Hay
- Debbie Sharp
- Nadeem Qureshi
- Carolyn Chew-Graham
- Rebecca Barnes
- Aneez Esmail
- Sarah Audsley
- Christos Grigoroglou
- Bethany Bareham
- Elizabeth Fergie
- Charlotte Albury
- Nathan Davies
- Claire Burton
- Marcia Clark
- Cliona McRobert
- Nadia Khelaifat
- Sarah Stevens
- Gemma Matthewman
- Sophie Turnbull
- Lucy Teece
- Rachel Dewar-Haggart
- Clare Oakland
- Amy O'Donnell
- Stephen Weng
- Isabel Lane
- Marie-Laure Morelli
- Joe Kai
- Katherine Tucker
- Kate Dunn
- Danielle Van der Windt
- Athula Sumathipala
- Lorna Clarson
- Zoe Paskins
- Ying Chen
- Dahi Yu
- Gavin Daker-White
- Sharon Spooner
- Louise Robinson
- Denise Kendrick
- Carol Coupland
- James Sheppard
- Sara Ryan
- Kamal Mahtani
- Niklas Bobrovitz
- Sam Watts
- Geraldine Leydon
- Greta Rait
- Goya Wannamethee
- Fiona Hamilton
- Michael Moore
- Richard Morris
- Ruth Riley
- Martin Roland
- Fiona Stevenson
- David Kessler
- Rupert Payne
- Katrina Turner
- Christi Deaton
- Duncan Edwards
- Morag Farquhar
- Greg Irving
- Katerina Kassavou
- James Prior
- Jennifer Liddle
- Martin Thomas
- David Reeves
- Waquas Waheed
- Rachel Duncan
- Susan Hrisos
- Julia Hippisley-Cox
- Matthew Jones
- Richard Knox
- Lisa Szatkowski
- Tim Coleman
- Ben Goldacre
- Clare Goyder
- Lisa Hinton
- Nicola Lindson-Hawley
- Tim Muntinga
- David Nunan
- Ly-Mee Yu
- Mark Lown
- Miriam Santer
- Beth Stuart
- Lorraine McDonagh
- Irene Petersen
- Magdy El-Gohary
- Nadine Foster
- Julia Bailey
- David Osbourn
- Jeremy Horwood
- Amanda Farley
- Sarah Purdy
- Anthony Harnden
- Alastair Hay
- Clare Jinks
- Fran Carroll
- Matt Ridd
- Jane Richardson
- George Peat
- Raymond Agius
- Stephen Campbell
- Carol Coupland
- Elizabeth Orton
- Ed Roddy
- Sophie Park
- Richard McManus
- Gail Hayward
- Sue Cooper
- Tom Blakeman
- Sarah Rodgers
- Peter Coventry
- Katherine Tucker
- Nicholas Freemantle
- Marta Buszewicz
- Kalpa Kharicha
- Sam Creavin
- Paul Aveyard
- James Hodgkinson
- Igho Onakpoya
- Yaling Yang
- Hazel Everitt
- Alyson Huntley
- Sarah Brien
- Richard Fuller
- Magdy El-Gohary
- Tom Fanshawe
- Paul Teed
- Yumna Masood
- Douglas Hardman
- Fabian Sailer
- Jamie Ross
- Danielle Burke
- Ben Ainsworth
- Polly Duncan
- Joseph Lee
- Yin Zhou
- Rebecca Farndale
- Evan Kontopantelis
- Rachna Begh
- Christian Mallen
- Alice Malpass
- Maria Panagioti
- Sarah Knowles
- Karen Rhodes
- Georgina Fletcher
- Sophie Orton
- Kate Ellis
- Gemma Spiers
- Emily Johnston
- Athena Ip
- Georgina Taylor
- Gene Feder
- Brendan Delaney
- Andrew Murphy
- Christine Bond
- Alan Chant
- Sylvia Bailey
- Tom Fahey
- Arno Hoes
- Sarah Hardoon
- Adam Geraghty
- Ben Goldacre
- Susan Jebb
- Peter Tammes
- Maria Barnes
- Zhirong Yang
- Ricky Mullis
- Juliet Usher-Smith
- Robbie Duschinsky
- Simon Griffin
- Christi Deaton
- Toby Helliwell
- Melanie Holden
- Yemi Oluboyede
- Gill Rowlands
- Kieran Ayling
- Carmen Piernas-Sanchez
- Margaret Smith
- Oliver van Hecke
- Clare Taylor
- Beth Stuart
- Tra My Pham
- Manuj Sharma
- Rachel Denholm
- Kate Walters
- Claire Planner
- Susan Hrisos
- Frances Cater
- Steven Blackburn
- Jo Protheroe
- Katrina Turner
- Alice Rollinson
- Ian Wellwood
- Stephen Barclay
- Merlin Willcox
- Bruce Guthrie
- Rachna Begh
- Luis Reeves Vaz
- Benjamin Feakins
- Rebecca Morris
- Kerstin Frie
- Cini Bhanu
- Arnoupe Jhass
- Salman Waqar
- Barry Coughlan
- Charlotte Archer
- Joanne Jordan
- Buddikha Fernando
- Laurie Davies
- Hannah Carpenter
- Georgia Richards
- Bethan Treadgold
- Suzan Hassan
- Annabelle Machin
- Emma Parry
- Lucy Pocock
- Andrew Kingston
- Ashley Hammond
- Ben Fletcher
- Stephen Campbell
- Jenni Burt
- Georgia Richards
- Rachel Johnson
- Jack O'Sullivan
- Kyle Knox
- Elka Humphrys
- Jonathan Gibson
- Jennie Hancox
- Luis Reeves Vaz
- Katie Mills
- Hannah Thornton
- Helen Beckwith
- Joy Adamson
- Sheena Ramsay
- Paula Alves
- Lisa Hinton
- Jeremy Horwood
- Ellie Morgan-Jones
- Sally Giles
- Sarah Sullivan
- Raphael Wittenberg
- Artaza Gilani
- Mohana Ratnapalana
- Asli Kalin
- Lauren Taylor
- Jemima Dooley
- Kym Snell
- Ben Bowers
- Charles Hay
- Magdalena Nowakowska
- Ralph Akyea
- Alexandra Jager
- Samantha Hornsey
- Holly Dorning
- Felix Naughton
- Alison Gregory
- Ali Heawood
- Sean Cowlishaw
- Stephanie Tierney
- Anna Spathis
- Annette Pluddemann
- Alyson Huntley
- Dawn Craig
- Mark Lown
- Johanne Dow
- Asli Kalin
- Xiao-Yang Hu
- Stephen Pye
- Ananya Namdeo
- Alexandra Jager
- Daniel Stow
- Sonia Newman
- Elizabeth Morris
- Ruth Abrams
- Faraz Mughal
- Narinder Bansal
- Krysia Dziedzic
- Matthew Booker
- Garth Funston
- Sally Pears
- John Edwards
- Brian McMillan
- Joy Adamson
- Katharine Bowker
- Kavita Vedhara
- Yana Vinogradova
- Edward Tyrell
- Veronika Williams
- Mila Petrova
- Shoba Dawson
- Betsy Jones
- Shoba Poduval
- Charlotte A'Court
- Anna King
- Sam Merriel
- Kelly Birtwell
- Anne-Marie Boylan
- Amadea Turk
- Rebecca Brown
- Amadea Turk
- Joanna Lach
- Jonathan Livingstone-Banks
- Richard Riley
- Gemma Hughes
- Tom Kingstone
- Peter Hartley
- Patricia Schartau
- Isabela Troya
- Isabela Troya
- Hassan Awan
- Kristen Thomas
- Hajira Dambha-Miller
- Nick Francis
- Mairead Murphy
- Holly Smith
- Danielle Nimmons
- Juan Carlos Bazo Alvarez
- Emma Teasdale
- Hilda Hounkpatin
- Jennifer Hirst
- Stavros Petrou
- Ruth Jack
- Barbara Iyen
- Ravinder Claire
- Robert Baker
- Alexander Turner
- Jonathan Stokes
- Efthalia Massou
- Rebecca Dennison
- Stephanie Archer
- Michelle Farr
- Laura Swaithes
- Ian Bennett-Britton
- Nicola Small
- Aaron Poppleton
- Aaron Poppleton
- Michael Harrison
- Katie Saunders
- Aleksandra Borek
- Brian Nicholson
- Tanvi Rai
- Opeyemi Babatunde
- Christie Cabral
- Yathavan Premadasan
- Andrew Farmer
- Madhu Pandiaraja
- Isabel Adeyemi
- Amy Bourton
- Claire Schwartz
- Katherine Checkland
- PRIMER (Primary Care Research in Manchester Engagement Resource)
- Rakesh Modi
- John Campbell
- John Macleod
- Katrina Turner
- Sallie Lamb
- Darren Ashcroft
- Geoff Wong
- Chris Griffiths
- Stephanie Taylor
- Kelly Birtwell
- Christina Farrall
- Angeli Vaid
- Christine Johnson
- Dipesh Gopal
- Sonia Tsukagoshi
- Catherine Saunders
- Megan Armstrong
- Alastair Hay
- Cindy Mann
- Sarah Bailey
- Sinead McDonagh
- Christopher Clark
- Sarah Dean
- Luke Mounce
- Ben Saunders
- Victoria Welsh
- Teng-Chou Chen
- Sudeh Cheraghi-Sohi
- Kelly Howells
- William Evans
- Paul Leighton
- Sharon Dixon
- Marta Wanat
- Ashley White
- Hajar Hajmohammadi
- Grace Okoli
- Ratna Sohanpal
- Ingrid Muller
- Tony Kendrick
- Nerys Astbury
- Flis Bishop
- Milica Bucknall
- Pearl Mok
- Siobhan Stynes
- Lorraine Watson
- Emma Pitchford
- Jane Smith
- Dominik Zenner
- Kristin Liabo
- Annette Gillett
- Caroline Sanders
- Stephanie Gallimore
- Polly Kerr
- Caitlin Oxford
- Natasha Tyler
- Heather Gibbs
- Tina Patel
- Jess Nye
- Claire Ashmore
- Martin Rolph
- Michela Onali
- Bart Koes
- Amanda Terry
- Martin Knapp
- Julia Hiscock
- Nicola Walsh
- Sonia Saxena
- Sally Kendall
- Frances Mair
- Carmel Hughes
- Lorna Duncan
- Tamsin Rookes
- Michelle Marshall
- Sandi Dheensa
- Richard Neal
- Fiona Walter
- Denham Phipps
- Denize Atan
- Chris Todd
- Werner Leber
- Catia Nicodemo
- Pete Wharmby
- Nicki Evans
- Ruth Plackett
- Emma Adams
- Chris Butler
- Deborah McCahon
- Sara Shaw
- Beverley Shields
- Greta Rait
- Jane Wilcock
- Emma Cockcroft
- Alice Tompson
- Jo Kesten
- Jessica Watson
- Victoria Goodwin
- Judit Konya
- Tanimola Martin
- Helen Twohig
- Gail Davidge
- Jessica Drinkwater
- Igor Francetic
- Stephanie Gillibrand
- Frances Allen
- Shihning Chou
- Ru Jia
- Katie Robinson
- Helen Ashdown
- Christian Farrier
- Sungwook Kim
- Chrysanthi Papoutsi
- Martina Patone
- Jadine Scragg
- Elizabeth Thomas
- Rosamund Dove
- Zahra Estabragh
- John Robson
- Runguo Wu
- Elizabeth Angier
- Elizabeth Lovegrove
- Leanne Morrison
- Christopher Wilcox
- Christina Avgerinou
- Abi Woodward
- Scarlett Whitford-Webb
- Francesca Dakin
- Stephanie Gallimore
- Deborah Antcliff
- Adwoa Agyemang-Benneh
- Narin Aker
- Amy Dobson
- Beccy Summers
- Lucy Potter
- Hannah Wardman
- Emma Ladds
- Sarah Moore
- Pushpa Nair
- Rhiannon Barker
- Anna Price
- Sarah Steeg
- Roberta Piroddi
- Celia Hulme
- Alexander Hodkinson
- Ge Yu
- Laura Warbrick
- Benjamin Brown
- Richard Partington
- Anita Attala
- Gretchen Bjornstad
- Charlotte Reburn
- Clarissa Giebel
- Greg Hartwell
- Iona Hindes
- Salma Almidani
- Lin Bowker-Lonnecker
- Ruth Naughton-Doe
- Sarah Cook
- Sarah Wigham
- Rachel Davies
- Ali Hindi
- Stella Kozmer
- Tasmin Rookes
- Saif Syed
- Tianchang Zhao
- Katherine Looker
- Sarah Price
- Philip Britteon
- Sean Urwin
- Richard Keers
- Penny Lewis
- Sonia Gran
- Laura Howells
- Felix Achana
- Weiqi Liao
- Kathryn Taylor
- Maria Vazquez-Montes
- Diana Withrow
- Sara Calderón-Larrañaga
- Milena Marszalek
- Eleanor Southgate
- Hannah Bowers
- Sara McKelvie
- Kinda Ibrahim
- James Raftery
- Kristin Veighey
- Alice Burnand
- Jane Masoli
- Deborah Caldwell
- Emma Adams
- Ruth Ambrose
- Karen Leeves
- Maureen Seguin
- Catherine Woods
- Stephanie Ejegi-Memeh
- James McLeod
- Sonia Filmer
- Julia Mannes
- Sarah Sowden
- Jade Kettlewell
- Judi Kidger
- Yu Fu
- Jamie Ross
- Nicola Merrett
- Jamie Wong
- Vashti Berry
- Emily Oliver
- James Coughlan
- Emma Cockcroft
- Emma Cockcroft
- Abi Hall
- Hilda Hounkpatin
- Sinead McDonagh
- Will Evans
- Stuart Stewart
- Lorraine Watson
- Eileen Kaner
- Richard Pione
- Holly Hope
- Jade Kettlewell
- Lauren Gray
- Halle Johnson
- Pradeep Virdee
- Sarah Harris
- Isabel Hanson
- Katie Read
- Hassanat Mojirola Lawal
- James Tawse
- Dipesh Gopal
- Anna Pathmanathan
- Bethan Treadgold
- Joseph Hutchinson
- Sadaf Qureshi
- Kiran Ibrahim
- Tomazo Joseph Kallis
- Gillian Campbell
- Ailish Katherine Byrne
- Charlotte Morris
- Sarah Tonkin-Crine
- Sanna Masih
- Alisha Newman
- Sarah Griffiths
- Contact us
- Links
- Presentations
- What we do