Fellow

Stan Kaye is Professor of Medical Oncology at the Insitute of Cancer Research. He iswidely recognised as one of the European leaders in the field of cancer therapeutics. He has been responsible for the incorporation of new treatments into large-scale clinical trials, and has been innovative in conducting trials in which the aim has been to reverse drug resistance mechanisms. Of particular note were the first large-scale, randomised trials addressing the issue of P-glycoprotein-based resistance modulation, and the recognition of the importance of mismatch repair deficiency as a mechanism underlying resistance to a wide range of agents. Work in xenograft models showed that there is a real potential of circumventing resistance by using agents to reverse the underlying gene hypermethylation, and clinical trials to address the feasibility of this approach are underway. Furthermore he instigated randomised trials in ovarian, breast, lung and testicular cancer which have provided important data in the ongoing debate regarding the importance of dose intensity. More recently, he has been responsible for a major ovarian cancer trial which is the first to evaluate tumour DNA in serum as a molecular marker of response. His Unit was responsible for the first clinical trials of docetaxel and capecitabine, two drugs now widely used in clinical practice.