The Christie NHS Foundation Trust
Manchester, UK
Person responsible for CTC programme: Dr Mairéad McNamara, Dr Tom Waddell
Hospital overview
The Christie and Holt Radium Institute moved to the present Withington site in 1932 and has grown to be the largest single site cancer hospital in the United Kingdom (UK). The Trust has been designated a separate teaching hospital of the University of Manchester. The Christie became a Foundation Trust in 2007, and serves both the local population across Greater Manchester and Cheshire of 3.2 million people and patients referred from across the UK. Medical and Clinical Oncology consultants work closely together in site-specialised Disease Orientated Groups. They are actively involved in research in joint collaborative programmes in the fields of lymphomas, sarcomas, melanoma, leukaemia, lung, breast, ovary, renal, testis and upper and lower gastrointestinal cancer.
The Manchester Cancer Research Centre (MCRC) was formed in 2006 by The University of Manchester, Cancer Research UK (CRUK) and The Christie. The CRUK Manchester Institute is at the heart of the MCRC. The MCRC brings together basic, translational and clinical researchers to provide a more integrated approach as it is essential to turn findings in the laboratory into more effective treatments for patients with cancer.
The Christie also has its own School of Oncology, enhancing the education and knowledge of healthcare professionals across the country.
The Christie will only accept 'Residency' status fellows. This means that GMC accreditation is required. Please view the process necessary for this before applying for an ESO CTC at this centre - https://www.gmc-uk.org/
CTC programmes offered
1. Upper Gastrointestinal Cancers (Oesophagogastric and Hepatopancreaticobiliary/neuroendocrine tumour) programme |
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| Discipline: | Medical Oncology |
| Programme mentors: |
Dr Tom Waddell and Dr Mairéad McNamara |
| Duration: | 6 months (residency) |
| Type: |
Visiting Residency |
| Language requirements: |
Fluent in English. |
| Programme description: |
The Oesophagogastric (OG) and Hepatopancreaticobiliary/Neuroendocrine (HPB/NET) units at the Christie Hospital serve a population of over 3 million people and are also tertiary referral units for complex cases or second opinions. The OG unit primarily treats patients with adenocarcinoma or squamous cell carcinoma of the oesophagus, gastro-oesophageal junction or stomach. Many of these patients will be receiving multi-modality, potentially curative treatment involving chemotherapy, radiotherapy and/or surgical intervention, and a multidisciplinary team (MDT) approach to patient management is therefore crucial. Many other patients will have incurable disease and will be receiving palliative chemotherapy where the risks and benefits of treatment must be carefully balanced. The OG unit has an active national and international research trials portfolio in both early stage and advanced disease. Dr Was Mansoor, consultant medical oncologist, is the Research Lead and the unit is involved in all stages of clinical trial development (phase I – III trials). At present the portfolio includes a number of trials evaluating novel immunotherapeutics in combinations with and without chemotherapy, in an effort to improve patient outcomes. There are also close collaborations with the Manchester Cancer Research Centre (MCRC) and University of Manchester. The disease sites treated in the HPB/NET unit include Hepato-Pancreatico-Biliary (composed of hepatocellular carcinoma, pancreas cancer, biliary tract cancers [cholangiocarcinoma and gallbladder cancer] and neuroendocrine tumours. The group has a very active clinical research programme (predominantly phase II/III), with close links to basic research laboratories in the Cancer Research UK Manchester Institute and the Wolfson Molecular Imaging Centre. There are around 500 new HPB/NET referrals received per year and approximately 25% of all patients are entered in to clinical trials. Manchester is consistently among the top-recruiters to clinical trials in the United Kingdom. In addition, the group has an international reputation in the treatment of patients with NETs (accredited as a Centre of Excellence by the European NET Society (ENETS) in 2011, re-accredited in 2014). A 6 month clinical fellowship is an exciting opportunity to gain clinical experience in the management of OG and HPB/NETs in a world-leading specialist centre. In addition, the candidate would be encouraged and supported to become actively involved in the research activities of the units and to undertake an audit, service evaluation or quality improvement project during their 6-month post, with the goal of presenting this work in abstract and manuscript form. In order to ensure that the clinical and educational objectives of the post will be met, it is envisaged that the weekly programme would include 2 NHS treatment clinics, 2 research clinics, and attendance at 2 multi-disciplinary team meetings. |
2. Lung cancer programme |
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| Discipline: | Medical and Clinical Oncology |
| Programme mentor: | Raffaele Califano |
| Duration: | 6 months (residency) |
| Type: |
Visiting Residency |
| Language requirements: |
Fluent in English. |
| Programme description: | The Christie Hospital registers > 1000 new patients with lung cancer per year. The clinical service is closely integrated with clinical research spanning early to late phase systemic therapy trials with a focus on precision medicines and immune oncology, radiotherapy-related research and translational, biomarker research. There is also a patient experience, supportive and palliative care research group with a focus on validating objective tools for measurement of patient experience and interventions for the respiratory symptom cluster: cough, breathlessness and fatigue. The Christie lung cancer group was designated joint Cancer Research UK Lung Centre of Excellence Status with University College London in 2014. This status recognised a track record of excellence in internationally leading clinical and translational research; in particular ground breaking research in circulating tumour cells as a biomarker and tool for drug development in small cell lung cancer. The clinical trials team maintains a portfolio of trials that encompass small cell and non-small cell lung cancer, supporting the studies being conducted by the National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI), Lung Clinical Studies Group, the EORTC Lung and Radiotherapy Groups, working with Pharma on industry- sponsored trials and conducting its own, investigator-initiated studies. Dedicated research clinics facilitate high patient recruitment and delivery of complex study protocols. Professors Fiona Blackhall (medical oncology) and Corinne Faivre-Finn (radiation oncology) lead the clinical research teams. They work closely with partners at Manchester Cancer Research Centre including Professor Caroline Dive (translational biomarker research), Professor Van Herk Marcel (Chair in Radiotherapy Physics), Professor Janelle Yorke (Chair in supportive and palliative care research). There are four dedicated research out-patient clinics in the week, and >5 clinics for patients receiving standard of care treatment, one of which is multidisciplinary, where patients are seen by medical oncology and radiation oncology for combined modality treatment. The Christie serves a population of £3.2 million and also serves 11 peripheral hospitals where patients with lung cancer are diagnosed. Visiting oncologists attend peripheral hospitals and surgery is centrally located at University Hospital South Manchester, where there is an active programme of research in early detection and early disease. Multidisciplinary Team (MDT) Meetings occur four times per week, bringing together respiratory physicians, oncologists, surgeons, pathologists and radiologists from each of four geographically placed sectors. This ensures equal access to treatment and research across the area of the North West served. Lung cancer rates are higher in the North West of England than elsewhere in England. In Manchester, lung cancer is the commonest cause of premature death. The overall goal of this residency programme is to provide a rich learning environment in all aspects of care and treatment of lung cancer. The fellow will gain knowledge and insight into management of a programme of routine clinical care alongside clinical research. The programme can also be tailored to the specific interests of the individual, depending on experience. All Fellows will have the opportunity to contribute to the research portfolio with an individual project with the aim of leading to published abstracts and papers and will have an active role in the management of patients treated within clinical trials. Fellows will be based at The Christie site. |
3. Experimental Cancer Medicine Team Programme in Immune Oncology |
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| Discipline: | Medical Oncology |
| Programme mentor: |
Dr Fiona Thistlethwaite |
| Duration: | 6 months (residency) |
| Type: |
Visiting Residency |
| Language requirements: |
Fluent in English. |
| Programme description: | Already amongst the largest Experimental Cancer Medicine Trials (ECMT) Units in the UK, the ECMT at The Christie has an ambitious goal of becoming one of the top three recruiting Experimental Cancer Medicine Units in Europe and one of the top five in the world by 2020. The team’s mission statement of ‘delivering tomorrow’s treatment today’ is underpinned by strong collaborative team working across the approximately 40 team members. These include physicians, research nurses, trials administrators and managers, clinical research secretaries and administrators. The team has an exciting portfolio of over 20 currently recruiting Phase I and non-randomised Phase II trials with a focus on first-in-human, first-in-combination, biomarker and regulatory clinical pharmacology studies. The four Principal Investigators are all research-active and are building a strengthening portfolio of investigator-lead clinical trials and translational research programmes. The Clinical Fellows within ECMT have wide-ranging opportunities to gain experience in clinical and translational research projects, clinical trials education through the Masters Programme in Experimental Cancer Medicine, as well as excellent experience in the clinical management of patients on early phase clinical trials. Dr Fiona Thistlethwaite leads the Immune-oncology (IO) programme within ECMT. The field of IO has seen enormous expansion in recent years with the rapid develop of checkpoint inhibitors, now reaching into mainstream oncology. Within ECMT, there is a flourishing early phase pipeline of new IO drugs and combinations across multiple tumour types. The identification of predictive biomarkers and strategies for immune monitoring are an area of research interest for Dr Thistlethwaite, along-side the development of complex immunotherapies including cellular therapy. With strong links to the recently established Tumour Immunology and Inflammation Monitoring Laboratory (TIIML) lead by Professor Caroline Dive, a growing portfolio of translational studies is anticipated and a number of projects are already in development. An IO Clinical Fellowship within the ECMT represents an excellent opportunity to obtain clinical experience of managing patients enrolled into Phase I clinical trials across a range of tumour types being treated with novel immunotherapies and identifying and managing related toxicities. There is also the opportunity to become involved in and develop translational research projects within this exciting field. |