A biopsy is a medical test commonly performed by a surgeon, interventional radiologist, or an interventional cardiologist. The process involves extraction of sample cells or tissues for examination to determine the presence or extent of a disease. The tissue is generally examined under a microscope by a pathologist; it may also be analyzed chemically. When an entire lump or suspicious area is removed, the procedure is called an excisional biopsy. An incisional biopsy or core biopsy samples a portion of the abnormal tissue without attempting to remove the entire lesion or tumor. When a sample of tissue or fluid is removed with a needle in such a way that cells are removed without preserving the histological architecture of the tissue cells, the procedure is called a needle aspiration biopsy. Biopsies are most commonly performed for insight into possible cancerous or inflammatory conditions.
John Gordon McVie was an international authority on the treatment and research of cancer. He wrote over 350 peer-reviewed articles, editorials and books. McVie was born in Glasgow, Scotland and died of non-Hodgkin lymphona and COVID-19 in Bristol, England.
Professor Dame Janet Elizabeth Siarey Husband is Emeritus Professor of Radiology at the Institute of Cancer Research. She had a career in diagnostic radiology that spanned nearly 40 years, using scanning technology to diagnose, stage, and follow-up cancer. She continues to support medicine and research as a board member and advisor for various organisations.
Hani Gabra PhD FRCPE FRCP is a British oncologist and Professor of Medical Oncology at Imperial College London. He concurrently holds the position of Chief Medical Officer at BerGenBio in Oxford, UK.
Paul Workman, is a British scientist noted for his work on the discovery and development of pharmaceutical agents in the field of oncology. He is President and CEO of The Institute of Cancer Research In London.
A cancer biomarker refers to a substance or process that is indicative of the presence of cancer in the body. A biomarker may be a molecule secreted by a tumor or a specific response of the body to the presence of cancer. Genetic, epigenetic, proteomic, glycomic, and imaging biomarkers can be used for cancer diagnosis, prognosis, and epidemiology. Ideally, such biomarkers can be assayed in non-invasively collected biofluids like blood or serum.
A liquid biopsy, also known as fluid biopsy or fluid phase biopsy, is the sampling and analysis of non-solid biological tissue, primarily blood. Like traditional biopsy, this type of technique is mainly used as a diagnostic and monitoring tool for diseases such as cancer, with the added benefit of being largely non-invasive. Liquid biopsies may also be used to validate the efficiency of a cancer treatment drug by taking multiple samples in the span of a few weeks. The technology may also prove beneficial for patients after treatment to monitor relapse.
Andrea Ablasser is a German immunologist, who works as a full professor of Life Sciences at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne. Her research has focused on how the innate immune system is able to recognise virus-infected cells and pathogens.
Anne Jacqueline Ridley is professor of Cell Biology and Head of School for Cellular and Molecular Medicine at the University of Bristol. She was previously a professor at King's College London.
Sarah-Jane Dawson is an Australian clinician-scientist. She is a consultant medical oncologist and head of the Molecular Biomarkers and Translational Genomics Laboratory at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne. Her current research interests are focused on the development of noninvasive blood-based biomarkers for clinical application, including early detection, risk stratification and disease monitoring in cancer management.
Richard Malcolm Marais is Director of the Cancer Research UK (CRUK) Manchester Institute and Professor of Molecular Oncology at the University of Manchester.
(Robert) Charles Swanton is British physician scientist specialising in oncology and cancer research. Swanton is a senior group leader at London's Francis Crick Institute, Royal Society Napier Professor in Cancer and thoracic medical oncologist at University College London and University College London Hospitals, co-director of the Cancer Research UK (CRUK) Lung Cancer Centre of Excellence, and Chief Clinician of Cancer Research UK.
Valerie Speirs is a Professor of Molecular Oncology at the University of Aberdeen. Her research aims to identify biomarkers of breast cancer to inform diagnosis and treatment.
Professor Richard James Gilbertson is a paediatric oncology clinician scientist and a Senior Group Leader at the Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute, University of Cambridge. He is the Li Ka Shing Chair of Oncology, and Director of the CRUK Cambridge Major Centre and the Children’s Brain Tumour Centre of Excellence.
Professor James D Brenton is a clinician scientist and Senior Group Leader at the Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute and Professor of Ovarian Cancer Medicine in the Department of Oncology, University of Cambridge. He is an Honorary Consultant in Medical Oncology at Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge University Hospitals, Ovarian Cancer Domain Lead for the 100,000 Genomes Project by Genomics England, and Co-Founder and Clinical Advisor to Inivata Ltd, a clinical cancer genomics company.
Vicky Goh is a professor, chair of clinical cancer imaging, and head of cancer imaging department at the King's College London, England, United Kingdom. She joined King's College London in 2011. She is also a consultant radiologist at Guy's and St Thomas' Hospital in London.
Sally Barrington is a professor of positron emission tomography (PET) Imaging and National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) research professor at King's College London (KCL), England, United Kingdom. She joined KCL in 1993.
Victoria Sanz Moreno is a Spanish scientist. She is professor of cancer cell biology at Queen Mary University of London.
Roy S. Herbst is an American oncologist who is the Ensign Professor of Medicine, Professor of Pharmacology, Chief of Medical Oncology, and Associate Director for Translational Research at Yale Cancer Center and Yale School of Medicine in New Haven, Connecticut.
Sarah Blagden is an associate professor of experimental cancer therapeutics at the University of Oxford in the Department of Oncology at Oxford. Her research is investigating post-transcriptional mechanisms for cancer behavior and novel cancer therapeutics for people with advanced malignancies.
