{"entity":{"id":"anthony-nichols","kind":"person","name":"Anthony C. Nichols","aka":[],"tldr":"Canadian surgeon who led ORATOR, the first randomised trial to compare robotic surgery with radiotherapy for early throat cancer, which found swallowing was slightly better after radiotherapy.","summary":"Anthony Nichols is a head and neck surgeon at Western University and London Health Sciences Centre in London, Ontario. He was first author of the 2019 Lancet Oncology report of ORATOR, the phase 2 trial that randomised patients with early oropharyngeal cancer to radiotherapy or transoral robotic surgery and found swallowing-related quality of life was modestly better after radiotherapy at one year. He also led ORATOR2 in HPV-positive disease.","asOf":"2026-09-18","links":[],"tags":["head-and-neck","surgery","trialist"],"related":[],"cancers":["hpv-positive-oropharyngeal-cancer","oropharyngeal-cancer","head-and-neck"],"sections":[],"technologies":[],"targets":[],"drugs":[],"companies":[],"institutions":["lhsc-verspeeten"],"pathways":[],"terms":[],"trials":["orator"],"people":[],"bottlenecks":[],"keyPapers":["paper-anthony-nichols-lancet-oncol-2019","paper-anthony-nichols-nat-genet-2017","paper-anthony-nichols-nat-genet-2014"],"journals":[],"dependsOn":[],"notes":[],"role":"Head and neck surgeon, Western University and London Health Sciences Centre, Ontario","institutionId":"lhsc-verspeeten","specialisms":["Oropharyngeal cancer","Transoral robotic surgery","Randomised surgical trials"],"profiles":[{"label":"PubMed","url":"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=Nichols%5BAuthor%5D"}],"papers":[{"title":"Radiotherapy versus transoral robotic surgery and neck dissection for oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (ORATOR): an open-label, phase 2, randomised trial","journal":"The Lancet Oncology","year":2019,"url":"https://doi.org/10.1016/s1470-2045(19)30410-3","doi":"10.1016/s1470-2045(19)30410-3","note":"Europe PMC author record matched by affiliation (Verspeeten Family Cancer Centre, London Health Sciences Centre); 335 citations on Europe PMC."},{"title":"Impaired H3K36 methylation defines a subset of head and neck squamous cell carcinomas","journal":"Nature Genetics","year":2017,"url":"https://doi.org/10.1038/ng.3757","doi":"10.1038/ng.3757","note":"Europe PMC author record matched by affiliation (Verspeeten Family Cancer Centre, London Health Sciences Centre); 225 citations on Europe PMC."},{"title":"Hotspot activating PRKD1 somatic mutations in polymorphous low-grade adenocarcinomas of the salivary glands","journal":"Nature Genetics","year":2014,"url":"https://doi.org/10.1038/ng.3096","doi":"10.1038/ng.3096","note":"Europe PMC author record matched by affiliation (Verspeeten Family Cancer Centre, London Health Sciences Centre); 164 citations on Europe PMC."}],"orcid":"0000-0002-0760-980X"},"route":"/people/anthony-nichols/","neighbours":{"cancer":[{"id":"head-and-neck","kind":"cancer","name":"Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma","route":"/cancers/head-and-neck/"},{"id":"hpv-positive-oropharyngeal-cancer","kind":"cancer","name":"HPV-positive oropharyngeal cancer","route":"/cancers/hpv-positive-oropharyngeal-cancer/"},{"id":"oropharyngeal-cancer","kind":"cancer","name":"Oropharyngeal cancer (tonsil and base of tongue)","route":"/cancers/oropharyngeal-cancer/"}],"institution":[{"id":"lhsc-verspeeten","kind":"institution","name":"Verspeeten Family Cancer Centre, London Health Sciences Centre","route":"/institutions/lhsc-verspeeten/"}],"trial":[{"id":"orator","kind":"trial","name":"ORATOR","route":"/trials/orator/"}],"paper":[{"id":"paper-anthony-nichols-nat-genet-2014","kind":"paper","name":"Hotspot activating PRKD1 somatic mutations in polymorphous low-grade adenocarcinomas of the salivary glands","route":"/key-papers/paper-anthony-nichols-nat-genet-2014/"},{"id":"paper-anthony-nichols-nat-genet-2017","kind":"paper","name":"Impaired H3K36 methylation defines a subset of head and neck squamous cell carcinomas","route":"/key-papers/paper-anthony-nichols-nat-genet-2017/"},{"id":"paper-anthony-nichols-lancet-oncol-2019","kind":"paper","name":"Radiotherapy versus transoral robotic surgery and neck dissection for oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (ORATOR): an open-label, phase 2, randomised trial","route":"/key-papers/paper-anthony-nichols-lancet-oncol-2019/"}]}}