The Cancer Research UK Cambridge Centre Podcast

In this special episode of our podcast, we bring you a recording of a live 'Ask Me Anything (AMA)' event held by our Pancreatic Cancer Programme for World Pancreatic Cancer Day on 16 November 2023. The AMA webinar saw specialists from across different disciplines answering questions submitted by members of the public and discussing topics related to day-by-day living with pancreatic cancer. In alphabetical order, the AMA panel consisted of: Dr Bristi Basu, an Academic Consultant in Medical Oncology specialising in experimental cancer therapeutics at the University of Cambridge and Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, and the clinical co-lead of the CRUK Cambridge Centre Pancreatic Cancer Programme. Yvonne Cartwright, a Consultant in Palliative Medicine at Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. Dr Paulo Fidalgo, a Gastroenterologist at the Digestive Unit of the Champalimaud Clinical Centre in Portugal, and head of their Risk Assessment and Early Diagnosis Programme. Kirsty Hoare, a Cancer Support Specialist at Maggie's. Dr Asif Jah, a Consultant Surgeon in hepato-pancreatico-biliary (HPB) and transplant surgery at Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, and Clinical Lead of the Department of HPB Surgery and Associate Lecturer at the University of Cambridge. Jeni Jones, a Pancreatic Cancer Specialist Nurse at Pancreatic Cancer UK. Laura McGeeney, a Pancreatic Cancer Specialist Dietician at Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. Sally Pascall, a 13-year survivor of pancreatic cancer, and one of our patient representatives who advises the Pancreatic Cancer Programme on issues that are relevant to patients. Abigail Redman, an HPB Oncology Clinical Nurse Specialist at Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

In this special episode of our podcast, Hui-Ling Ou is joined by Isobel Turbin to talk about inherited pancreatic cancer, genetic testing, and genetic counselling. They also discuss which genetic tests are currently available, why these genes are important, and how testing results may help pancreatic cancer patients. Dr Hui-Ling Ou is the Programme Manager for the Pancreatic Cancer Programme at the CRUK Cambridge Centre at the University of Cambridge, UK. Isobel Turbin is a Principal Genetic Counsellor within the East Anglia Regional Genetics Service, UK. She currently holds cancer genetic, general genetic, and prenatal genetic clinics at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge, UK, as well as monthly general genetic clinics in King's Lynn, UK. Isobel is also the Education and Training Co-lead in the East Anglian Genetic Counselling Team. Useful links mentioned in this podcast episode: National Genomic Test Directory: www.england.nhs.uk/publication/national-genomic-test-directories EUROPAC: www.europactrial.com Genetic Alliance UK: www.geneticalliance.org.uk Genetic and Genomic Testing (NHS webpage): www.nhs.uk/conditions/genetic-and-genomic-testing Clinical Genetics at Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust: www.cuh.nhs.uk/our-services/clinical-genetics

In today's episode, Ellie Wolmark is joined by Natalie Ellis, Ellen Nowak and Lauren Gardiner Walton to talk about the development of the Arts Strategy for the Cambridge Cancer Research Hospital (CCRH). They also discuss the benefits of the arts in cancer care and in supporting patient treatment and recovery. If you would like to get involved in the CCRH project by joining any of the groups that Ellen mentions in this episode, further information can be found at: www.cambridgecancer.org.uk/our-community/get-involved Natalie is Head of Arts at Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. Ellen is an Arts Programme Manager at Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. Lauren is a member of the CCRH Environment Design Working Group as well as being Curator of the Cambridge University Herbarium, and was recently treated for cancer. About CUH Arts: CUH Arts is Cambridge University Hospitals' arts-in-health programme, dedicated to shaping care through creativity. They strive to promote wellbeing, distract from illness, and improve the hospital experience by providing excellent creative and cultural opportunities for patients, staff, visitors and the wider community. Embedded within one of the world's leading hospital trusts, their diverse, person-centred, multi-disciplinary programme of live, participatory and visual arts is facilitated and managed by an expert team of arts professionals in collaboration with artists and cultural partners.

In this episode, Professor Charlotte Coles talks about her work on the personalisation of radiation techniques to give patients with cancer the best chance of cure with the least side effects. Charlotte is Professor of Breast Cancer Clinical Oncology and Deputy Head of the Department of Oncology at the University of Cambridge, UK. She is also the Director of CRUK RadNet Cambridge.

In this week's episode, Professor Florian Markowetz talks about his work and recent publication on chromosomal instability. Chromosomal instability is a dynamic process of DNA change, which leads to some DNA being present multiple times and some being lost altogether. Some cancers are dominated by this process of genomic disruption; ovarian, pancreatic and triple-negative breast cancer for example. These chaotic DNA changes mean that there are not good biomarkers present to guide treatment decisions. Florian's laboratory has found a structure underlying chromosomal instability and has identified genomic fingerprints which enable them to read out the fundamental reasons for the DNA changes. Florian is a group leader at the Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute at the University of Cambridge, UK.

Dr Marcel Gehrung talks about how his research at the CRUK Cambridge Centre led him to co-found the start-up Cyted with Rebecca Fitzgerald, Professor of Cancer Prevention and Director of the Early Cancer Institute at the University of Cambridge, UK, and Maria O'Donovan, lead pathologist for upper gastrointestinal cancer and diagnostic cytology at Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. Cyted combines innovative AI-driven diagnostics with a new sample collection method to detect and prevent oesophageal cancer, developed at Cambridge University.

In this week's fascinating episode, Ellie Wolmark is joined by Dr Dario Bressan to discuss how the Cancer Grand Challenges team IMAXT has brought cancer researchers together with astronomers and video game designers to build the world's first virtual reality map of a tumour. By developing this entirely new way to study cancer, team IMAXT could revolutionise the diagnosis and treatment of people with the disease. Dario is Head of the IMAXT Laboratory at the CRUK Cambridge Institute at the University of Cambridge. Cancer Grand Challenges is a funding initiative co-founded by Cancer Research UK and the National Cancer Institute in the US.

In the first episode of part three, podcast host Ellie Wolmark is joined by Professor Robert Rintoul and Lauren Wallis to talk about biological sampling. They discuss what biosamples and biobanks are, how they are collected and used, and why they are so important for both patient treatment and cancer research. Robert is Professor of Thoracic Oncology in the Department of Oncology at the University of Cambridge, and Honorary Consultant Respiratory Physician at Royal Papworth Hospital. Lauren is Translational Research Manager in the Urological Malignancies Programme at the CRUK Cambridge Centre, University of Cambridge.

Ellie Wolmark introduces part three of our Integrated Cancer Medicine: Research in Focus series. In the coming episodes, the net continues to be spread a little wider to include conversations about biosampling, the IMAXT project, the company Cyted, personalised radiotherapy, and much, much more. As always you will hear discussions about research and research collaborations, the techniques that are being developed, and how they translate to the clinic to affect patient treatments and outcomes. Ellie is Communications Manager for Integrated Cancer Medicine at the University of Cambridge and the CRUK Cambridge Centre.

In the final episode of this series, we are joined by a special guest, Robert Chuter, a researcher from the Christie Hospital. Robert shares with us his research into the impact radiotherapy has on climate change. We are all aware of the effects that we have on the world around us, and the way in which we minimise our impact on the environment is crucial for the future of the planet. Neil, a member of our Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement (PPIE) Group, joins us this week to discuss radiotherapy, the environment, and what can be done to reduce our carbon footprint. Robert works with the Clinical Radiotherapy Physics Team at the Christie Hospital in Manchester, UK, and the Radiotherapy-Related Research (RRR) Group at the University of Manchester. Whilst his main focus is on the Magnetic Resonance Linear Accelerator (MR-Linac), he is also the Chair of the Institute of Physics and Engineering in Medicine's (IPEM) Environmental Sustainability Group, which he set up in February 2020. As part of this, he has written many articles and presented at numerous meetings on this critically-important topic. He was also successful in being awarded nearly £10,000 by the North-West Greener NHS Innovation Fund to estimate the carbon footprint of the radiotherapy treatment pathway.

Today, Andrew Robinson talks to us about adaptive radiotherapy, where we are with it now, and the potential it has for the future. Adaptive radiotherapy has been around for many years, but it is not currently standard practice. Essentially, there are different ways in which we can adapt radiotherapy treatment, which Andrew explains during this episode. Helene, a member of our Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement (PPIE) Group, asks questions about what this may mean for radiotherapy practice and how the workforce may manage some of the associated challenges. Andrew is the Head of Radiotherapy Physics in the Radiotherapy Department at Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, UK. He is a Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC)-registered Clinical Scientist, Medical Physics Expert, and Higher Specialist Scientist. Andrew has experience across many areas of radiotherapy physics including quality control, dosimetry, prostate brachytherapy, stereotactic radiotherapy planning, and equipment replacement projects.

Today we speak with David Fernandez-Antoran about his involvement in the FLASH Radiotherapy Working Group to find out more about the exciting prospect of FLASH radiotherapy and the pre-clinical work currently happening within CRUK RadNet Cambridge. Amy, our patient representative, joins us once again to learn more about this exciting new research and to share how she managed the side effects of her radiotherapy treatment. David is the CRUK RadNet Group Leader at the Gurdon Institute, University of Cambridge, UK, running the Radiation Biology and Cell Competition Laboratory, and is the co-Chair of the Emerging Radiotherapy Technologies UK group and the Principal Investigator of the FLASH Radiotherapy Working Group in the UK. He studies how tissues respond to radiotherapy treatments, not just the tumour but in healthy tissues too, in order to develop more effective 'tumour killing' radiotherapy and to be less aggressive with the healthy surrounding tissues.

In today's episode, Dr Indrani Bhattacharya introduces proton beam therapy. This technique is in its infancy in the UK, with The Christie NHS Trust in Manchester and University College London Hospital building the first proton beam therapy centre as a part of their hospitals' radiotherapy services and to serve the entire UK population. With all this new research being prepared, we want to know what this means for radiotherapy practice in the near future. Amy, our patient representative, shares her experiences of radiotherapy and asks how proton beam therapy might have impacted upon her treatment pathway. Indrani is a Clinical Oncology Consultant at Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, UK, specialising in breast cancer. She has expertise in technical breast radiotherapy and clinical trials radiotherapy quality assurance, as well as delivery of systemic therapies for breast cancer patients. She is also the Principal Investigator for PARABLE, a recently-opened proton beam therapy clinical trial.

In this episode, Cristina Ferreira discusses with us a new technology, soon to be implemented here in Cambridge, UK, called Surface Guided Radiation Therapy (SGRT). Our patient representative Caroline shares her experiences of radiotherapy treatment and the challenges that this new technology could help overcome. Cristina is the Head of Technical Operations in the Radiotherapy Department at Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, UK. Her current role involves providing professional leadership and expert technical knowledge, not only to the Radiotherapy Department but to our wider professional group. Cristina is a core member of a team implementing complex radiotherapy techniques, driving service improvement and staff development.

Podcast host Rachael Webster is joined by Dr Raj Jena to find out about the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on radiotherapy practice and how this is already being used in radiotherapy today. The Radiotherapy Department at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge, UK, has been using some machine learning approaches that were developed in house for many years, but what does this mean? Beverly from our Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement (PPIE) Group asks Raj the questions that patients would like to know the answers to regarding AI and the benefits it can have on radiotherapy treatment planning. Raj is an Academic Radiation Oncology Consultant specialising in the central nervous system (CNS), which includes the brain and spine, at Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in the UK. He is currently researching the use of AI and machine learning to improve radiotherapy treatments. Raj is also the lead researcher on a multi-centre study of AI in radiotherapy called Hamlet.RT.

Welcome to our "Future of radiotherapy" series, hosted by Rachael Webster. In this introductory episode, Rachael gives us an overview of the Cancer Research UK Radiation Research Network, known as CRUK RadNet, and introduces CRUK RadNet Cambridge's first patient and public involvement project which has led to the creation of this podcast series. You'll also find out from Rachael what's coming up in our next few episodes. Rachael is a Senior Therapeutic Radiographer and CRUK Translational Research Radiographer at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge, UK. She has been qualified for seven years, working at multiple centres across the UK, and joined CRUK RadNet Cambridge two years ago. She has recently completed her MSc in Radiotherapy and Oncology in Practice, with her dissertation focusing on respiratory motion management for stereotactic ablative body radiotherapy to renal cell carcinoma. She also works closely with the Society and College of Radiographers on improving patient safety and on inclusive practice for transgender, non-binary and intersex people when enquiring about pregnancy status. Rachael additionally works with charities such as Live Through This as an advocate for LGBTIQ+ people.

In today's special episode, Dr Kelly Fagan Robinson joins podcast host Ellie Wolmark to talk about her career as a social anthropologist and the research that she is undertaking with the Early Cancer Institute at the University of Cambridge and the International Alliance for Cancer Early Detection. The field of early cancer detection encompasses a diverse collective of research disciplines, with each representing different kinds of expertise and relying on different data collection methods and analysis techniques. We could say that these disciplinary differences mean that they speak different languages, so how then can evidence of risk be effectively communicated between them? Find out in the 'Shared Risk' mini-MOOC on the CRUK Cambridge Centre website: www.crukcambridgecentre.org.uk/sharedrisk Kelly is a Leverhulme and Isaac Newton Trust Early Career Research (ECR) Fellow in the Department of Social Anthropology at the University of Cambridge. Ellie is Communications Manager for Integrated Cancer Medicine at the CRUK Cambridge Centre at the University of Cambridge.

In this special episode of our podcast, we bring you a recording of a live 'Ask Me Anything (AMA)' event held by our Pancreatic Cancer Programme for World Pancreatic Cancer Day on the 17th November 2022. The AMA session saw specialists discussing the broad supportive aspects of living with pancreatic cancer, whilst also answering questions that were submitted by members of the public. If you have a question that you would like us to answer in a future podcast episode, or if you have ideas for topics that you would like us to discuss in a future series, please let us know by visiting our website: www.crukcambridgecentre.org.uk/podcast. The AMA session was chaired by Jim Smith, a seven-year survivor of pancreatic cancer and one of our patient representatives who advises the Pancreatic Cancer Programme on issues that are relevant to patients. The AMA panel consisted of: Dr Bristi Basu, an Academic Consultant in Medical Oncology specialising in experimental cancer therapeutics at the University of Cambridge and Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, and the clinical co-lead of the CRUK Cambridge Centre Pancreatic Cancer Programme. Anna Burton, a Senior Specialist Pancreatic Dietitian at the Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust. Gerald Coteman, Director of the Elizabeth Coteman Fund. Nicola Day, a Clinical Specialist Physiotherapist in oncology rehabilitation and exercise at Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. Dr Sarah Galbraith, an Honorary Consultant in Palliative Medicine at Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. Anna Gorick, a Clinical Nurse Specialist in Oncology at Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. Kirsty Hoare, a Cancer Support Specialist at Maggie's. Jeni Jones, a Pancreatic Cancer Specialist Nurse at Pancreatic Cancer UK. Laura McGeeney, a Pancreatic Cancer Specialist Dietician at Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. Amanda Winwood, the Founder and Managing Director of Made for Life Organics and the Made for Life Foundation.

In the final episode of this series, we speak to Katy Cooper, Suzanne Miller and Cathy Philpot from our research team. Radiotherapy research is critically important for the advancement of radiotherapy practice, whether this is in the way we deliver radiotherapy or how we can use it in combination with other treatments such as immunotherapy or chemotherapy. Katy is part of the Cambridge Clinical Trials Centre at Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust who oversee the planning, running and recording of clinical trials for radiotherapy. Katy's role is key in assessing patients to join clinical trials right through to their follow up and the dissemination of results, ensuring that every patient's contribution is valued and recorded. Suzanne works for CRUK RadNet Cambridge in a similar role to Katy. She has been pivotal in the planning of applications for funding for large-scale, multi-centre trials within our team. Cathy works in translational research for radiotherapy breast cancer trials with CRUK RadNet Cambridge. She works closely with patients with breast cancer and has been involved with an exciting new trial looking at drug combinations for patients who may not have been suitable for radiotherapy.

Dr Yvonne Rimmer and Dr Saif Ahmad talk to us about their roles as clinical oncologists in radiotherapy and what their roles mean to patients coming in for cancer treatment. Clinical oncologists undergo years of continued training and learning to become specialists in the field of radiotherapy and for a specific part of the body. They work closely with our radiographers, physicists and planning team, and with many other members of the wider multi-disciplinary teams such as surgeons, nurses and dieticians (to name a few) so that each patient has an individualised treatment plan tailored specifically for their needs. Yvonne is a Clinical Oncology Consultant for urological cancer, which includes prostate and bladder cancer. She is also a Specialist Research Lead for radiotherapy clinical trials for Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and the wider region of the NIHR Clinical Research Network (CRN) for East of England, UK. Saif is a Clinical Oncology Consultant, primarily treating people with breast cancer, and also works with CRUK RadNet Cambridge investigating why certain tumours respond to radiotherapy whilst others do not.