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Breast cancer researcher who turned ctDNA into a tool for choosing treatment, leading SERENA-6 and CAPItello-291.
Nicholas Turner is Professor of Molecular Oncology at The Institute of Cancer Research and a consultant medical oncologist at The Royal Marsden, where he leads the Ralph Lauren Centre for Breast Cancer Research. His specialisms are breast cancer, circulating tumour DNA, endocrine resistance and the CDK4/6 and PI3K pathway. He turned circulating tumour DNA into a tool for choosing treatment through plasmaMATCH, the Lancet Oncology trial of ctDNA analysis to direct therapy in advanced breast cancer, and SERENA-6, which tests camizestrant. He also led the capivasertib programme, with CAPItello-291 reported in the New England Journal of Medicine in hormone receptor-positive advanced breast cancer. His ICR profile and PubMed listing are linked.
| Title | Journal | Year |
|---|---|---|
| Capivasertib in hormone receptor-positive advanced breast cancer (CAPItello-291) | NEJM | 2023 |
| Circulating tumour DNA analysis to direct therapy in advanced breast cancer (plasmaMATCH) | Lancet Oncology | 2020 |
The first prospective test of acting on ctDNA in triple-negative disease, and a negative one: with a quarterly, single-mutation assay the window between detectable DNA and visible metastasis was too short to intervene. Later designs use tumour-informed assays, earlier sampling and drugs with more single-agent activity.
For TNBC, where brain metastases are common, the blind spot matters: a negative ctDNA test does not exclude intracranial relapse.
The proof-of-principle paper for molecular residual disease in breast cancer, and the origin of the personalised digital PCR approach that c-TRAK TN later tested prospectively in TNBC.
Shares The Institute of Cancer Research, The Royal Marsden, Estrogen receptor (ERα), HR-positive / HER2-negative breast cancer.
Shares The Institute of Cancer Research, The Royal Marsden, Estrogen receptor (ERα), HR-positive / HER2-negative breast cancer.
Shares CAPItello-291, Capivasertib.
Shares SERENA-6, Camizestrant, Estrogen receptor (ERα), Liquid biopsy (ctDNA).
Shares SERENA-6, Camizestrant, HR-positive / HER2-negative breast cancer.
Shares SERENA-6, Camizestrant, Capivasertib, Liquid biopsy (ctDNA).
Shares Camizestrant, Estrogen receptor (ERα), HR-positive / HER2-negative breast cancer.
Shares AKT, Capivasertib, HR-positive / HER2-negative breast cancer.