Abdominal sarcomas include a wide and varied group of tumours including retroperitoneal leiomyosarcomas and liposarcomas, gastrointestinal stromal tumours arising throughout the gut, and other intra-abdominal and pelvic soft tissue sarcomas. A wide range of surgical expertise is required to treat the full range of tumours encountered, in addition to locally ablative techniques such as radiofrequency ablation, and chemotherapy and radiotherapy. The abdominal sarcoma team includes surgeons from the Royal Free Hospital who are subspecialists and world leaders in their field. Abdominal sarcoma surgery takes place at the Royal Free Hospital whilst oncology treatment remains at UCLH. The two teams work together and discuss patients care at a weekly Abdominal Sarcoma MDT meeting.
Surgeons
My main field is surgery for cancer of the oesophagus and stomach.
I am Head of Upper GI Services at UCLH and have been focusing on pre surgery fitness optimization of patients who are due to have complex and very high risk surgery.
I specialise in vascular (blood vessel) and kidney transplant surgery and hold posts at the Royal Free London and at Great Ormond Street Hospital.
My role with the sarcoma service is to help remove tumours with are close to, or touching, major blood vessels.
I am currently a Consultant Plastic Surgeon at the Royal Free, University College London, and St Albans City hospital. I have trained extensively in plastic and reconstructive surgery having undertaken my training in plastic surgery both in the UK, Europe and the USA.
Following completion of my microvascular reconstruction fellowship in the USA (MD Anderson, Houston, Tx), my current reconstructive practice involves microvascular breast reconstruction and microvascular lower limb reconstruction following sarcoma excisions and trauma cases. I am also active in the abdominal wall reconstruction (AWR) service and have carried out a number of joint cases with the general surgeons. In terms of other complex oncological reconstructions, I also carry out pelvic/perineal/vaginal reconstructions following tumour excision by oncological surgeons and a large part of my work includes the management of skin cancer patients. In the eight years I have been a consultant I have performed over 350 free flaps for breast reconstruction (success 99.7%), abdominal wall reconstruction success 90-96% depending on the complexity, cosmetic breast over 96% success and cosmetic abdomen 99% success.
I am also a full member of the British Association of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons (BAPRAS).
I have completed a Cosmetic Fellowship at the world renowned Akademiklinican in Stockholm, Sweden with Dr Per Heden. This allowed me to combine my reconstructive surgical skills with my aesthetic skills in refinements in breast surgery, abdominal surgery and facial surgery as well as surgery following massive weight loss.
I have published comprehensively within the plastic surgery literature throughout my career and regularly present my work internationally at plastic surgery conferences.
I specialise in colorectal cancer and the surgical management of inflammatory bowel disease.
My clinical practice includes surgery for the management of intestinal failure and complex hernia repair.
My subspecialty is andrology and genital reconstruction and I am the lead of the UCLH Supraregional Penile Cancer Network.
The genital oncology unit is now one of the largest in the world managing rare genital tumours and combining cancer resection with genital reconstruction allows a better functional outcome. Late effects of cancer treatment such as erectile dysfunction and infertility are also managed as part of the service.
I have an active research interest in andrology and penile cancer with over 160 peer reviewed publications and edited 7 urology textbooks.
I qualified from St. Bartholomew’s and The Royal London School of Medicine, after which I gained entry into higher surgical training with the London Deanery. I received broad training as a general surgeon, including surgical oncology at The Royal Marsden Hospital.
I developed a particular sub-specialist interest in oesophago-gastric cancer and soft tissue tumour surgery, completing this training at University College London Hospital. During this time, I was awarded my fellowship with The Royal College of surgeons of England. I undertook an international fellowship in South Africa to further enhance my general surgery skill-set, prior to appointment as a consultant surgeon at UCLH.
I have a particular interest in Upper GI tract and abdominal sarcomas.
I am the lead surgeon for the abdominal sarcoma service at RFH and also lead pancreatic surgery at UCLH. I have a particular interest in GIST, pancreatitis and duodenal disease.
My research interests are in pancreatitis and Duodenal polyposis.
I am a plastic surgery consultant specialising in the reconstruction of complex wounds. I am based at the Royal Free London NHS Foundation trust and am the lead plastic surgeon at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital, Stanmore. My specialist interest is in sarcoma reconstruction and I support the sarcoma surgeons across several sub-disciplines including head and neck, spine, bone and soft tissue as well as abdominal sarcoma. I provide a comprehensive approach to complex reconstruction.
My plastic surgical training was in London with a particular focus on microsurgical techniques and facial palsy. My PhD research in nerve regeneration was done at the Harvard Center for Brain Science under Professor JW Lichtman. I continue to have an research interest in nerve function particularly with respect to pain and function in amputees, and am an expert in targeted muscle reinnervation and facial reanimation.
Oncologists
I completed my clinical training at St Bartholomew’s and University College London Hospitals. I completed a PhD at the Institute of Cancer Research and the Royal Marsden Hospital which looked at the genes that predispose patients to prostate cancer.
I now specialise in the treatment of soft tissue and bone sarcomas using chemotherapy and radiotherapy. I have a strong interest in clinical research and am currently in the process of developing a number of new local and national research projects in sarcoma. I teach and lecture regularly in the management of sarcomas.
I am part of the oncology team on the Sarcoma Unit at University College Hospital, and specialize in the systemic treatment of patients with bone and soft tissue sarcomas. I completed my training at the Istituto Nazionale Tumori of Milan and at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. During my fellowship at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute I also worked with Dr. Karen Albritton, who at that time was setting up of one of the first AYA (adolescents and young adults) Clinic, as well as the Survivorship Clinic. From 2006 to 2010 I was Associate Physician, Medical Oncology, Istituto Nazionale Tumori, Milan working in the Sarcoma Team. I am on the medical board of the Desmoid Tumor Research Foundation and lead physician for our Unit for the treatment of desmoid-type fibromatosis patient. Also lead physician for our team for patient with Giant Cell Tumor requiring medical treatment. I have a strong interest in early phase clinical trials and am a co-investigator for a number of clinical trials in sarcoma.
I was educated and started my training in Internal Medicine in Greece. I also conducted my PhD at University of Ioannina in angiogenesis and proteolysis in cancer of unknown primary site. I completed my specialist training in Oncology at the Royal Marsden Hospital in London during a 3 years fellowship. I followed an academical career in Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece and I led the Medical Oncology Department during my last year of my stay there. In 2015 I was appointed as a Consultant Medical Oncologist at UCLH and I am exclusively treating patients with bone and soft tissue sarcomas with systemic treatment within the London Sarcoma Service.
I have a strong interest in clinical trials across multiple tumor types and more recently in sarcoma, acting as principal and co-investigator for a number of national and international trials. Since my early days in my career, I was involved in the conduction of early clinical trials both in UK and Greece with novel agents and I have experience in pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamic models.
I have published more than 100 publications in per reviewed journals in clinical and translational research and I regularly teach and lecture in the management of sarcomas. I also hold an honorary clinical senior lectureship contract with UCL and I contribute to the teaching of the medical students. I am member of several scientific organizations including British sarcoma Group, EORTC Soft Tissue and Bone Sarcoma Group, ESMO, ASCO, HeSMO etc.
I trained in treating sarcomas at the Royal Marsden and Middlesex Hospitals in London, and now specialise exclusively in the treatment of soft tissue and bone sarcomas with chemotherapy and radiotherapy.
I completed a PhD (University of London) at the Institute of Cancer Research in imaging of tumour hypoxia, and currently I have a strong interest in clinical trials in sarcoma, acting as principal and chief investigator for a number of national and international trials. I am actively involved in coordinating sarcoma research at a national level as a member of the NCRN Sarcoma Clinical Studies Group, and I am also a member of the EORTC Soft Tissue and Bone Sarcoma Group. I regularly teach and lecture on the management of sarcomas.
I am a Senior Clinical Lecturer and Honorary Consultant Medical Oncologist. My clinical post is based at University College London Hospital, part of the London Sarcoma Service, one of the largest sarcoma services in Europe. I specialise in the systemic treatment of bone and soft tissue sarcomas in both adults and teenagers.
I began training as a medical oncologist working on the adolescent unit at the Middlesex Hospital where I developed an interest in sarcoma and teenage and young adult (TYA) cancer. I completed a Cancer Research UK Clinical Fellowship to obtain a PhD (University of London) at St Bartholomew's Hospital investigating pre-clinical and clinical effects of novel treatments for cancer, and investigating translational markers to improve their effects. In 2009, I was awarded a Career Development Award from the Sarcoma Alliance for Research through Collaboration (SARC), which allowed me to further my research aiming to identify new targets for the treatment of sarcoma; work that is ongoing in the UCL Cancer Institute. I have a strong interest in translating these findings into benefit for patients and early phase clinical trials, particularly in sarcomas affecting teenagers and young adults.
I am the chief investigator and principle investigator for a number of international and national phase I, II and III studies in sarcoma and am leading a national cohort study in osteosarcoma, ICONIC. I chair the NCRI Sarcoma Clinical Studies Group Bone Subgroup and was recently appointed Chair of the Executive Committee of the European EuroEwing consortium (EEC), a pan-European collaboration to improve outcome for patients with Ewing sarcoma. I am a member of the EORTC Soft Tissue and Bone Sarcoma Group and Innovative Therapies for Children with Cancer (ITCC) consortium and am the Clinical lead for Sarcoma and rare cancers for the Public Health England (PHE) National Cancer Registration and Analysis Service (NCRAS). Here, I am particularly interested in understanding variations in patient pathways and access to specialist services to reduce inequalities and improve outcome for patients with rare cancers.
Histopathologists
Radiologists
I am a consultant radiologist at UCLH. I have a particular interest in the imaging of abdominal sarcoma as well as disorders of the upper GI tract, liver, biliary system and the pancreas.