One in Two

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 ·   ...

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 B...

 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  ·   ...

 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 im...

 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 T...

 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 ce...

 In this episode, we speak to Dr Colin Lindsay, Clinical Senior Lecturer at The Christie and The University of Manchester about the basic biology of lung cancer, focusing on:     The high incidence of lung cancer here in Manchester  The differences between non-small cell and small-cell lung cancer  Oncogenic drivers in lung cancer such as the KRAS mutation  His work on the drug sotorasib which tar...

 In this special episode, we speak to Dr Jen Davies-Oliveira, a researcher and PhD student at The University of Manchester and Stewart O’Callaghan, the Founder and Chief Executive of Live Through This, the UK’s only LGBTQIA+ Cancer charity. We discuss challenges that LGBTQIA+ people face when accessing cancer care in the UK, Jen’s research project in alternative cervical screening which aims to ta...

This World Cancer Day 2023, we speak to Professor Robert Bristow, the Director of the Manchester Cancer Research Centre, Chief Academic Officer at The Christie NHS Foundation Trust and Professor of Cancer Studies at The University of Manchester about his research in prostate cancer. We also cover the broader cancer research environment in Manchester, the importance of teamwork and team science and...

In this episode we speak to Professor Sarah Cartmell on her work in bioengineering and ex-vivo modelling which involves studying cancer cells outside of an organism. Specifically, we talk about her team's work developing these models that can analyse, in three dimensions, how non-cancerous lung cancer cells develop into tumours and what the findings from this work could mean for improving patient...

In this episode, we speak to Professor Emma Crosbie about her research in womb cancer and the breakthrough she made in discovering a link between Lynch syndrome and womb cancer. We discuss the steps Emma and her team took to change NICE guidance on testing for Lynch syndrome for women with womb cancer, and what this now means for the many women and their families with this disease.   Emma Crosbie’...

In this episode we speak to Dr Marilena Hadjidemetriou about her research on nano-omics, which aims to integrate nanotechnology to the ‘world of omics’ as well as proteomic biomarker discovery. We find out how nano-omics is being used to isolate molecular biomarkers that highlight the early stages of cancer in patients, making earlier cancer detection possible.   Marilena’s research profile: https...

In this episode we speak to Professor Katherine Payne about health economics; what it is, its importance in cancer treatment and early detection strategies and the crucial role it plays in changing healthcare policy. We discuss Katherine’s work evaluating the health and economic benefits of banning sunbeds in England and the effect that a policy intervention would have in reducing the burden of sk...

In this episode we speak to Dr Jen Davies-Oliveira and Professor Emma Crosbie about their research into womb cancer and human papilloma virus, commonly known as HPV. We also discuss one of their research projects developing alternative self-sampling methods for HPV. With lower cervical screening uptake in communities such as the LGBTQIA+ community, we explore how addressing barriers to screening c...

In this episode we speak to Professor Gareth Evans about the importance of breast cancer screening, as well as the risk predictors of breast cancer as he answers the question: Should all women be screened equally for breast cancer?  He discusses risk prediction, early detection and prevention of breast cancer, highlighting the outputs of trials led by Manchester investigating the best routes for b...

In this episode, we speak to Professor Phil Crosbie and Professor Emma Crosbie about their research in the early detection of lung and womb cancer and their work on community screening and addressing health inequalities. With cancer incidence rising, especially amongst the most socially and economically disadvantaged communities, the need for earlier detection interventions has never been more imp...