One in Two The University of Manchester

In the latest episode of One in Two: A Manchester Cancer Research Podcast, we speak to Professor Matt Evison, Professor of Thoracic oncology, and never-smoker ALK+ lung cancer patient, Sally Hayton about: 
 
·      Never-smoker lung cancer symptoms, demographics, and occurrence 
·      Sally’s experience of receiving her lung cancer diagnosis and the barriers she faced in accessing treatment
·      Overcoming barriers to early detection in symptomatic lung cancer patients 
·      The Manchester self-referral chest x-ray service and how it is helping in the diagnosis of symptomatic lung cancer patients 
   
Show notes:  
 
Professor Matt Evison’s profile: https://mft.nhs.uk/wythenshawe/consultants/dr-matthew-evison/
 
Non-small cell lung cancer information from Macmillan: 
https://www.macmillan.org.uk/cancer-information-and-support/lung-cancer/non-small-cell-lung-cancer
 
The ALK project: A real-work national network and database: 
https://christie.openrepository.com/handle/10541/623693
 
ALK Positive UK: https://www.alkpositive.org.uk/
 ALK Positive Org: https://www.alkpositive.org/what-is-alk
 
EGFR Positive UK: https://www.egfrpositive.org.uk/
 
EGFR Registers: https://egfrcancer.org/
 
Ruth Strauss Foundation: https://ruthstraussfoundation.com/
 
Rankin shoots campaign to raise awareness of lung cancer in people who have never smoked: https://lbbonline.com/news/rankin-shoots-campaign-to-raise-awareness-of-lung-cancer-in-people-whove-never-smoked
 
The ROS1ders: https://www.theros1ders.org/
 
Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation: https://roycastle.org/
   
Speaker profiles:   
   
Professor Matt Evison 
 
Professor Matthew Evison MD MRCP (Respiratory Medicine) MBChB qualified from Manchester University Medical School in 2004. He undertook specialist training in Respiratory Medicine in 2008-2014 including a two-year fellowship in Thoracic Oncology at Wythenshawe Hospital, Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, completing an MD degree in lung cancer diagnostics. He was appointed as a Consultant in Respiratory Medicine (Thoracic Oncology) at Wythenshawe Hospital in 2014. He was clinical Director for Lung Cancer for Greater Manchester Cancer from 2017-2023 and Appointed as Associate Medical Director for the Greater Manchester Cancer Alliance in 2023. Matt is the Clinical Lead for the Greater Manchester regional tobacco control programme ‘Making Smoking History’. He is a member of the British Thoracic Society Lung Cancer & Mesothelioma Specialist Advisory Group (SAG) & Member of the British Thoracic Oncology Group Steering Committee. He is also MASHC Honorary Clinical Chair, Faculty of Biology, Medicine & Health, The University of Manchester.
 
 
Sally Hayton 
 
Patient Sally Hayton lives with Frank her partner. She has lived most of her life in Greater Manchester.
 
Sally is a never smoker and was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer in 2013 and biomarker testing showed an ALK mutation. She is now being treated at The Christie Hospital.
 
She has always worked in the public sector. After leaving school she trained and worked as an occupational therapist (OT). She then had a career change and worked within NHS Personnel for several years before realising that she wanted to return to her OT career. She has worked within both the NHS and social care, both of which she enjoyed.
 
She is a member of Greater Manchester Cancer Alliance Patient Voices’ and believes it is very important to raise awareness of never smoker lung cancer so that people are diagnosed at earlier stages and have access to the best treatment.
 
 
Quote
 
“The profile of lung cancer is changing, so I saw it as people who smoked a packet of cigarettes a day for 20, 30 years and then they got to their 70s and 80s and then were diagnosed with stage four lung cancer; that was my rough perception I had in my head. Then now, having been diagnosed with lung cancer and not fitting that group, I realise

In this episode, we speak to Professor David Wedge, Professor of Cancer Genomics and Data Science, about breast cancer in Black African women, focussing on: 
 
·      Cancer genomics and what we understand ethnicity to be in the context of genomic research
·      David’s work within the International Cancer Genome Consortium 
·      The increase in aggressiveness of breast cancer that we see in Black African women compared to White Caucasian women
·      David’s current research project on genomics of breast cancer progression in Nigerian women
·      The importance of international research and discuss how this work is driving for health equity. 
Professor David Wedge:
David Wedge is a Professor of Cancer Genomics and Data Science at the Manchester Cancer Research Centre, University of Manchester. He was co-lead of the Evolution and Heterogeneity working group of the ICGC Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) project and is currently one of the leaders of the Pan Prostate Cancer Group.
Much of the research in the Wedge lab is focused on tumour evolution, from the initial transformation of normal cells to cancer, through the acquisition of treatment resistance and to the formation of metastatic lesions. The Wedge group have pioneered the development of computational methods to study heterogeneity in primary and metastatic cancers. Recently, the focus of the lab has shifted towards understudied populations, including the genomics of breast cancer in Nigerian women and of lung cancer in non-smokers.
Professor David Wedge’s research profile   
 
Manchester Cancer Research Centre Breast cancer webpage
 
Cancer Research UK Breast cancer webpage
 
Etiology and Genomics of Breast Cancer Progression in Women of African Ancestry paper  
 
Whole-genome analysis of Nigerian patients with breast cancer reveals ethnic-driven somatic evolution and distinct genomic subtypes nature paper

In this episode, we speak to Dr Emma Woodward and patient Nick Brown, about hereditary cancer predisposition, focusing on:   ·      Li Fraumeni Syndrome (LFS), a rare cancer predisposing condition which gives a 70% lifetime risk of developing cancer, caused by germline mutations in the TP53 gene ·      Nick’s diagnosis with LFS syndrome and the affect this has had on him and his family ·      The current screening regime for LFS ·      The ATLAS study run by Dr Emma Woodward in collaboration with Ontario Institute for Cancer Research in Toronto, Canada, which is working to change cancer detection in LFS    Show notes:     Dr Emma Woodward research profile    The George Pantzirka TP53 Trust    Li Fraumeni Syndrome      Speaker profiles:      Dr Emma R. Woodward: Dr Emma R. Woodward is a Clinical Geneticist specialising in hereditary cancer predisposition. Dr Woodward studied medicine at the University of Cambridge where she also completed a PhD studying familial phaeochromocytoma and familial renal cancer. She then undertook training in adult medicine in London, Lausanne and N. Ireland prior to her higher specialist training in Clinical Genetics in Birmingham. During this time Dr Woodward received an NIHR Clinician Scientist Award and undertook further study of familial renal cancer. She became a consultant at Birmingham Women’s Hospital in 2008 and at Saint Mary’s Hospital in 2015. Dr Woodward’s current research is aimed at improving cancer prevention and early detection strategies for families with a hereditary cancer predisposition. Dr Woodward is an Alliance of Cancer Early Detection (ACED) Director of Research for Trials and Principle Investigator of the ACED-funded study: ELECTRIC (Early Detection of Hereditary Renal Cancer), MAHSC -funded study: PRO-DIRECT (Direct genetic testing for prostate cancer) and a LifeArc-funded project to calculate risk of second primary cancers in hereditary retinoblastoma. Dr Woodward is also joint-PI for the Cancer Research UK/ Ontario Institute for Cancer Research-jointly funded ATLAS study (eArly deTection in Li frAumeni Syndrome).   Nick Brown:  Patient Nick Brown is married to wife Amanda and has three children aged 25, 23 and 20. He is originally from North Yorkshire and after attending school in Leeds and University at Nottingham, he studied to be a chartered accountant with a big four firm.  After qualifying and leaving the profession, Nick spent most of his career in textiles, initially working in carpets and for the last 20 years as finance director at Camira group. In 2019 he retired and remained as a non-exec director and has subsequently taken on a further non-exec role at a worsted suit manufacturer in Leeds.  Nick first discovered he had LFS following the passing of his sister who died from multiple cancers in 2015. He was subsequently tested, and it was confirmed he had LFS in 2017. Since then, Nick has been under the care of the genetics team in Manchester and specifically with Dr Emma, Woodward. More recently all of Nick’s children are now in the process of testing to see if they also have LFS.   Nick was asked by Emma if he wished to participate in the ATLAS project which he was very happy to do and acted as a lead advocate at a number of patient group feedback sessions. The aim of these sessions was to inform what the Atlas project was about and to obtain patient feedback about the outcomes which may arise from the project. 

In this episode, we speak to Corinne Faivre-Finn, a Professor of Thoracic Radiation Oncology about lung cancer clinical trials, focussing on:   ·      Radiotherapy: what it is and how it’s used to treat lung cancers ·      Clinical trials: what are they, who are they for and how are they set up ·      The RAPID-RT clinical trial that launched at The Christie in early 2023, and how it could improve survival rates for lung cancer patients ·      The involvement of AI and rapid learning in this trial, and the benefits this has for data collection    ·      Integrating patient voices into the trial   Speaker profile:      Corinne Faivre-Finn, FRCR, MD, PhD, is a Professor of Thoracic Radiation Oncology at the Division of Molecular and Cancer Sciences (University of Manchester) and Honorary Consultant Clinical Oncologist (The Christie NHS Foundation Trust, Manchester) with a specialist interest in lung cancer. Prof Faivre-Finn trained in Paris until 1998 and accepted a consultant post at The Christie in 2001. She has numerous professional roles including: Radiotherapy Research Lead and Radiotherapy Big Data Lead for Manchester Cancer Research Centre, Radiotherapy Research Lead for the CRUK Lung Cancer Centre of Excellence and Early NSCLC Chair of EORTC Lung Group.  She is the Co-lead of the Christie/Manchester Cancer Research Centre Patient Reported Outcome Group.       Show notes:     Professor Corinne Faivre-Finn's research profile   The Telegraph: AI utilised to help prevent lung cancer patients getting heart disease    CRUK clinical trial research website   RAPID RT, The University of Manchester   Dr Gareth Price research profile   We are Vocal home page   Using real world data and rapid learning to drive improvements in lung cancer survival   

In this episode, we speak to Dr Fabio Gomes, a Consultant Medical Oncologist at The Christie NHS Foundation Trust, about lung cancer in never smokers, focusing on: The commonality of lung cancer in never smokers Why never smokers are susceptible to lung cancer, and why you only need lungs to get lung cancer ALK positive mutations in non-small cell lung cancer His research project looking at The UK ALK project The ALK Education programme and educating healthcare professionals through data and case studies Speaker profile:    Dr Fabio Gomes is a Consultant Medical Oncologist who specialises in the care of patients with lung cancer, focussing specifically on the ALK positive mutation in Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). He also has a special interest in the care of senior adults with cancer and is the Clinical Director of the multidisciplinary senior adult oncology service launched at The Christie in 2022. Fabio also works with the digital services where he directs the clinical outcomes unit. This unit focuses on the use of clinical data generated as part of the daily practice across the hospital to identify the outcomes of groups of patients and promote improvements. Dr Gomes is an elected board member of the International Society of Geriatric Oncology (SIOG). He is also a Clinical Research Training Fellow alum at The University of Manchester. Show notes:  Dr Fabio Gomes’ research profile Non-small cell lung cancer information from Macmillan The ALK project: A real-work national network and database ALK Positive UK ALK Positive Org Ruth Strauss Foundation

In this episode, we speak to Professor Caroline Dive, Professor of Cancer Pharmacology at The University of Manchester, Interim Director of the Cancer Research UK Manchester Institute and Director of the CRUK Cancer Biomarker Centre, about cancer biomarkers in lung cancer, focussing on: Establishing a Cancer Biomarker Centre in Manchester Developing liquid biopsies such as circulating tumour cells (CTCs), circulating free DNA (cfDNA) and circulating tumour DNA (ctDNA) The future of integrating novel biomarkers into the clinic     Show notes:     About the CRUK MI Cancer Biomarker Centre: https://www.cruk.manchester.ac.uk/Our-Research/Cancer-Biomarker-Centre   Professor Caroline Dive’s research profile: https://www.crukcentre.manchester.ac.uk/team-members/caroline-dive/   cfDNA methylome profiling for detection and subtyping of small cell lung cancers: https://www.nature.com/articles/s43018-022-00415-9 The evolution of lung cancer and impact of subclonal selection in TRACERx: https://scholar.google.com/citations?view_op=view_citation&hl=en&user=3CNlPIMAAAAJ&sortby=pubdate&citation_for_view=3CNlPIMAAAAJ:e84hm74t-eoC   Pulmonary venous circulating tumour cell dissemination before tumour resection and disease relapse: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6986897/    Speaker profile:    Upon completing her PhD studies in Cambridge, Professor Caroline Dive moved to Aston University’s School of Pharmaceutical Sciences in Birmingham where she established her own group studying mechanisms of drug-induced tumour cell death, before moving to The University of Manchester to continue this research. Caroline was awarded a Lister Institute of Preventative Medicine Research Fellowship before joining the Cancer Research UK Manchester Institute (CRUK MI) in 2003. Currently, she is Interim Director of the Institute and Director of its Cancer Biomarker Centre, with research spanning tumour biology, biomarker discovery and preclinical pharmacology alongside regulated laboratories for biomarker assay validation and qualification within clinical trials to Good Clinical Practice standards supporting clinical decision-making. Caroline was awarded the Pasteur-Weizmann/Servier International Prize in 2012 for her Biomarker Research, the AstraZeneca Prize for Women in Pharmacology in 2016 and was presented with the 2019 Heine H. Hansen Lectureship Award by the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC). In 2018, Caroline was awarded Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for her services to cancer research. Most recently, she became an elected member of EMBO (2020), received the inaugural Johann Anton Merck Award in recognition for exceptional contributions to the field of preclinical oncology (2020) and was the recipient of the Mary J. Matthews Pathology/Translational Distinguished Service Award by IASLC (2021). Caroline was President of the European Association for Cancer Research from 2020 – 2022.