Professor Gordon Wishart

Professor Gordon Wishart is a consultant breast surgeon with expertise in improving patient care, modernising and auditing breast cancer pathways, and translating laboratory research into clinical practice.

Background

Professor Gordon Wishart has been a consultant breast surgeon for 22 years and has had an active breast cancer clinical research programme since his time as a research registrar. He was instrumental in raising £2 million to build the Cambridge Breast Cancer Research Unit in 2008, and was appointed as Visiting Professor of Cancer Surgery at Anglia Ruskin University in December 2008. In 2010 he led a team of clinicians and scientists to produce the Predict model that estimates the survival and treatment benefits following surgery for invasive breast cancer, and he has published widely in the field of breast cancer. 

Gordon is a former director of Cambridge Breast Unit (Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Trust, 2005-2010), former deputy director of Cambridge Breast Cancer Research Unit (2008-2010), and current joint lead of Predict breast cancer survival and treatment benefit model management team.

Research interests

• Clinical breast cancer research
• Breast cancer diagnostic protocols
• Sentinel lymph node biopsy
• Prediction of breast cancer survival (Predict model)
• Improvements in breast radiotherapy

Professor Wishart's main research interests have focused on improving patient care (one-stop clinics, early discharge following breast surgery, nurse-led follow-up clinics), modernisation of breast cancer surgery (introduction of sentinel lymph node biopsy to UK, use of Indocyanine Green for sentinel node biopsy, provision of immediate breast reconstruction), breast cancer survival (survival benefit of screen-detected breast cancer, differences in survival between hospitals, prediction of survival using Predict model) and improvements in breast radiotherapy (development of Cambridge post-mastectomy radiotherapy index, Intensity Modulated radiotherapy, Partial Organ radiotherapy).

Areas of research supervision

• Examiner M.Phil. (Medical sciences )  University of Cambridge 2002

“Breast Cancer Related Lymphoedema: methods of investigation of lymphatic drainage and studies into the pathophysiology of the disease”.

• Supervisor MSc Thesis:  Imperial College, London 2008

“P-glycoprotein expression is significantly associated with increased sestamibi washout in primary hyperparathyroidism”.

• Examiner MD Thesis: University of Cambridge 2011.

“The pathophysiology of lymphoedema”.

Teaching

• Member of Faculty – Advanced Breast Disease Course, Royal College of Surgeons of England

Qualifications

• MBChB, July, 1983
• MD (Edinburgh), June,1992
• FRCS I (Glasgow),Jan, 1986
• FRCS II (Glasgow),May,1987
• FRCS III (Intercollegiate), Jan,July, 1995
• FRCS,(Eng.), ad eundem, June, 2001
• MA (Cantab.),(Cambridge), July,2006

Memberships, editorial boards

• Association of Breast Surgery
• British Breast Group
• Predict Steering Group
• IMPORT Trial Management Group
• Cambridge IMRT Trial Management Group
• British Journal of Surgery (referee)
• European Journal of Surgical Oncology (referee)

Research grants, consultancy, knowledge exchange

• Evaluation of breast MRI in the assessment of multifocality in breast cancer using detailed radio-pathological correlation. R & D, Anglia & Oxford (co-applicant). 2 years from 1.3.99,  £42,950

• The use of breast MRI to assess response to primary chemotherapy for cancer with radio-pathological correlation. Addenbrooke’s Charities (co-applicant). 2 years from 1.5.98 , £20,000

• Tumour angiogenesis in breast cancer: correlation between FDG/PET, MRI, CT and histology. Breast Cancer Campaign (co-applicant). 3 years from 1.7.06 , £167,411

• MONET: Molecular profiling of postmenopausal women with breast cancer on neoadjuvant exemestane ot tamoxifen. Pfizer Pharmaceuticals (co-applicant). 2 years from 1.8.06, £48,440

• Use of digital infrared imaging (Sentinel BreastScanTM) for evaluation of breast cancer detection in patients undergoing breast biopsy. Infrared Sciences Corporation, New York. (Principal Investigator). 2 years from 1.11.06, $90,000

• METABRIC: Molecular taxonomy of breast cancer international consortium. Cancer Research UK (co-applicant). From April 2008. £655,000

• ARTIST: Aromasin® Randomised TrIal +/- Sutent® as neoadjuvant Therapy for post menopausal women with breast cancer. Pfizer Oncology (one of 3 lead applicants). From May 2008, £621,650

• ADJUVANT UK: development of an online prognostication and treatment benefit tool based on East Anglia breast cancer dataset. Collaborative project with Peter Ravdin & ECRIC. Pfizer Oncology (Lead Applicant). From May 2008, £34,500

• ARTEMIS: Avastin® Randomised Trial with nEo-adjuvant cheMotherapy for women wIth earlt breaSt cancer. Cancer Research UK (Clinical Surgical Coordinator). From March 2009, £725,264

• Establishment of Cambridge Breast Clinic in Athens 2005-2010 with support from UKTI and British Embassy to modernise breast cancer diagnosis and treatment in Greece.
• Training of Russian surgeons in sentinel lymph node biopsy (2014 to date).
• Founder & Chief Medical officer of Check4Cancer, an early cancer detection company that provides cancer screening & diagnostics to the corporate, incured and private markets.

Selected recent publications

Wishart GC, Azzato EM, Pharoah PDP, Greenberg DC, Rashbass R, Kearins O, Lawrence G, Caldas C, Ravdin PM.  PREDICT: A new UK prognostic model that predicts survival following surgery for invasive breast cancer. Breast Cancer Res. 2010, Jan 6; 12(1): R1.

Curtis C, Shah SP, Chin S_F, Turashvili G, Rueda OM, Dunning MJ, Speed D, Lynch AG, Samarajiwa S, Yuan Y, Graf S, Ha G, Haffari G, Bashashati A, Russell R, McKinney S, METABRIC group, Langerod A, Green A, Provenzano E, Wishart G, Pinder S, Watson P, Markowetz F, Murphy L, Ellis I, Purushotham A, Borresen-Dale A-L, Brenton J, Tavare S, Caldas C, Aparicio S. The genomic and transcriptomic architecture of 2000 breast tumours reveals novel subgroups. Nature. 2012; 486(7403): 346-52.

Wishart GC, Loh S-W, Britton PD, Jones L, Benson JR. A feasibility study (ICG-10) of indocyanine green (ICG) fluorescence mapping for sentinel lymph node biopsy in early breast cancer. Eur J Surg Oncol 2012; 38(8): 651-6.

Wishart GC, Bajdik CD, Dicks E, Provenzano  E, Schmidt MK, Sherman M, Greenberg DC, Green AR, Gelmon KA, Kosma V-M, Olson JE, Beckmann MW, Winqvist R, Cross SS, Severi G, Huntsman D, Pylkäs K, Ellis I, Nielsen TO, Giles G, Blomqvist C, Fasching PA, Couch FJ, Rakha E, Foulkes WD, Blows FM, Bégin LR, van't Veer LJ, Southey M, Nevanlinna H, Mannermaa A, Cox A, Cheang M, Baglietto L, Caldas C, Garcia-Closas M, Pharoah PDP. PREDICT Plus: development and validation of a prognostic model for early breast cancer that includes HER2. Br J Cancer 2012; 107: 800-807.

Mansel RE, MacNeill F, Horgan K, Goyal A, Britten A, Townson J, Clarke D, Newcombe RG, Keshtgar M, Kissin M, Layer G, Hilson A, Ell P, Wishart G, Brown D, West N. Results of a national training programme in sentinel lymph node biopsy for breast cancer. Br J Surg 2013 Apr; 100(5): 654-661.

Benson JR & Wishart GC. Predictors of recurrence for ductal carcinoma in situ following breast conserving surgery. Lancet Oncology August 2013; 14(9): e348-357.

Mukesh MB, Barnett G, Wilkinson JS, Moody AM, Wilson C, Dorling L, Kak CCW, Quian W, Twyman N, Burnet NG, Wishart GC, Coles C. A randomised controlled trial of Intensity Modulated Radiotherapy (IMRT) for early breast cancer: 5-year results confirm superior overall cosmesis. J Clin Oncol 2013; 31(36): 4488-4495.

Earl HM, Vallier AL, Hiller Louise et al. Neoadjuvant sequential epirubicin, cyclophosphamide, and paclitaxel, with or without gemcitabine, for women with high risk early breast cancer (Neo-tAnGo): an open-label, 2 x 2 factorial randomised phase 3 trial. Lancet Oncol 2014; 15(2): 201-212.

Wishart GC, Axon A. Overcoming the injustices of Gregg v Scott with a new approach to recovering damages in cases of delayed diagnosis of cancer following JD v MELANIE MATHER EWHC 3063 (QB). Clinical Risk 2014; 19(6): 130-138.

Mukesh MB, Qian W, Wilkinson JS, Dorling L, Barnett GC, Moody AM, Wilson C, Twyman N, Burnet NG, Wishart GC, Coles CE. Patient reported outcome measures (PROMs) following forward planned field-in field IMRT: results from the Cambridge breast IMRT trial. Radiother Oncol. 2014; 111(2): 270-275.

Maishman T, Copson E, Stanton L, Gerty S, Dicks E, Durcan L, Wishart GC, Pharoah P, POST Steering Geoup, Eccles D. An evaluation of the prognostic model PREDICT using the POSH cohort of women aged <40 years at breast cancer diagnosis. Br J Cancer 2015; 112: 989-991.

Engelhardt EG, van deb Broek AJ, Linn SC, Wishart GC, Rutgers EJT, van de Velde AO, Smit VTBMH et al. Accuracy of the online prognostication tools PREDICT and Adjuvant! for early stage breast cancer patients younger than 50 years. EJC 2017; 78: 37-44.

Candido dos Reis, Wishart GC, Dicks EM et al. An updated PREDICT breast cancer prognostication and treatment benefit prediction model with independent validation. Breast Cancer Research 2017; DOI 10.1186/s13058-017-0852-3.

Partial breast radiotherapy after breast conservation surgery for patients with early breast cancer (UK IMPORT LOW trial): 5-year results from a multicentre, randomised, controlled, phase 3, non-inferiority trial. The Lancet, August 2017: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(17)31145-5.

Recent presentations and conferences

May 2012: AVMA Annual Clinical Negligence Conference (Keynote Lecture). Cancer & life expectancy.

May 2013: European Society for Surgical Research (ESSR) Annual Congress (Keynote Lecture). Predict: a new online survival and treatment benefit model for early breast cancer.

June 2013: AVMA Annual Clinical Negligence Conference (Keynote Lecture). Proof of causation: a new approach in cancer cases.

November 2016: Russian Oncology Conference (Keynote Lecture). Sentinel node biopsy for early breast cancer.

June 2018: AVMA Annual Clinical Negligence Conference (Opening Keynote Lecture). Lessons learned following criminal prosecution of Birmingham breast surgeon Ian Paterson in 2017.

Media experience

Regular media invitations from BBC Radio, BBC Look East, National BBC, Sky TV and multiple magazines and publications