“Thanks to Yorkshire Cancer Research funding, we have changed the face of bowel cancer surgery in Yorkshire, and beyond” – Professor Philip Quirke’s experience

Yorkshire Cancer Research is celebrating the remarkable achievements of Professor Philip Quirke. A globally renowned bowel cancer researcher from the University of Leeds and Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, his vital partnership with the charity spans over four decades. 

Professor Quirke’s groundbreaking work has revolutionised cancer treatment for people with cancer in Yorkshire and around the world.

This year marks 100 years of Yorkshire Cancer Research. Since 1925, the charity has united with pioneering researchers and cancer experts to bring life-saving discoveries and progress in cancer research to people in Yorkshire.

Professor Quirke’s support from Yorkshire Cancer Research started in 1984 when the charity funded his PhD in pathology. 

The charity’s backing helped pave the way for Professor Quirke’s world-class reputation in bowel cancer pathology. Just two years later, he and his University of Leeds colleague Professor Michael Dixon published a highly influential paper on rectal cancer recurrence in The Lancet, a leading international medical journal. 

At the time around 30% of people with rectal cancer saw their cancer return in the same area or close to it. This is called a ‘local recurrence’. Working with widely respected surgeon Professor Bill Heald, Quirke and Dixon identified how specific surgery techniques were more successful at removing cancer and reducing the risk of cancer returning.

Together, they went on to organise masterclass training programmes for surgeons in the UK and other countries, showing them how to change their approach. As a result, local recurrence now occurs in less than 10% of people with rectal cancer.

In 2005, Professor Quirke and his pathology team were amongst the first to move into a new state-of-the-art research facility - the Leeds Institute of Molecular Medicine - at St James’s Hospital in Leeds. Opened with the help of a £1.7 million contribution from the charity, the building brought pioneering experts in the fields of genetics, pathology, immunology, molecular medicine, haemotology, epidemiology and clinical trials together under one roof.

Professor Quirke and his team showed how combining expertise from different research disciplines could lead to vital developments in cancer research, bringing an understanding of pathology, biomarkers and genetics to help select the best type of cancer drugs and dosages for people with cancer. 

He explained: “It is not always clear how patients will respond to treatment until they receive it. Our research helped us identify in advance whether a drug will work for a patient or not, so we could spare them unnecessary treatment.”

An example of this forward-thinking approach to cancer research was the QUASAR trial, led by Professor Quirke with significant funding from Yorkshire Cancer Research. The 10-year trial revealed important signals, called biomarkers, which can be used to predict the likelihood of recurrence. This important discovery would provide more tailored cancer treatments for people with bowel cancer, increasing survival and reducing the risk of the cancer coming back.

Since Yorkshire Cancer Research started funding Professor Quirke’s research, improvements to surgery have helped to double the number of people surviving bowel cancer.

Many of these surgical improvements have been a result of pioneering clinical trials driven forward by Professor Quirke’s team and Leeds colleagues, from giving people with rectal cancer a short course of radiotherapy before surgery, to proving that robotic surgery is safe for bowel cancer. 

He said: “Keyhole surgery, robotic operations, and advanced preoperative treatments for people with bowel cancer are no longer future possibilities. Many more people in Yorkshire and beyond who have received a bowel cancer diagnosis are now walking around today – free from cancer – as a result of the clinical trials funded by the charity.”

Currently, Yorkshire Cancer Research is funding 25 clinical trials, giving thousands of people in the region the opportunity to take part in pioneering cancer research. This includes FOxTROT 3, a bowel cancer clinical trial led by researchers at the University of Leeds, Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust and the University of Birmingham. 

The trial is part of a wider FOxTROT research programme which investigates whether giving people with colon cancer a short course of chemotherapy before surgery improves survival and reduces the risk of cancer coming back. 

Professor Quirke said: “FOxTROT 3 is another key example of how investment in local research and clinical trials leads to global impact. Not only is FOxTROT 3 ensuring people in Yorkshire receive world-class cancer treatment, but the achievements of Professor Jenny Seligmann, Dr Nick West and their Oncology and Pathology teams have already shown improve cancer outcomes for people around the world.” 

In addition to pioneering bowel cancer treatments, Professor Quirke's team helped to revolutionise testing for Lynch syndrome, a hereditary condition that increases the risk of bowel cancer and other cancers. 

Equipped with Yorkshire Cancer Research funding, the team’s research has led to more than 2,500 people across Yorkshire being offered Lynch syndrome testing each year. Those who are likely to have the condition can then be referred to the NHS genetic service for potentially life-saving prevention measures including routine screenings and aspirin therapy. 

Professor Quirke’s team continues to work in partnership with the charity, supporting its aim for more people to survive cancer in Yorkshire, and beyond. This includes the £3.6m Yorkshire Cancer Research Bowel Cancer Improvement Programme which assesses the differences in ways hospitals treat bowel cancer, with the aim to improve outcomes for people with bowel cancer across Yorkshire.

When asked about the charity’s 100-year history - for 40 years of which he has played a vital role – Professor Quirke said: “Yorkshire Cancer Research has helped many young researchers, including myself, develop into world-leading scientists and doctors, putting Yorkshire on the global map as a pioneer in cancer research and saving lives around the world.”

Looking to the future he said: “I would like to see more research into the causes behind this terrible disease, so we can prevent it thereby ensuring more people in our region are spared from the challenges of bowel cancer treatment altogether. There is a growing body of research being done in this area and exciting new causes, so it is vital we continue to bring this promising field of research to the region, so people with cancer in Yorkshire can be among the first to benefit from scientific breakthroughs and more lives can be saved.”