Dr Sarah Danson BMedSci, BMBS, MRCP, MSc, PhD
Department of Oncology
Weston Park Hospital
Whitham Road
Sheffield
S10 2SJ
UK
Office:
Tel: +44 (0)114 226 5704
Fax: +44 (0)114 226 5364
email: s.danson@sheffield.ac.uk
Biography
I am a Senior Clinical Lecturer in Medical Oncology in the University of Sheffield and Honorary Consultant in Medical Oncology at Weston Park Hospital, Sheffield. I qualified in 1996 from the University of Nottingham and was a Specialist Registrar and Cancer Research UK Clinical Research Fellow in Pharmacology at the Christie Hospital, Manchester before commencing my present post in November 2006.
Research Interests
My clinical and research interests are in melanoma and lung cancer. My background is in the early clinical assessment of new anticancer agents. Sheffield has been made an `Experimental Cancer Medicine Centre´ and some of its aims are to expand the early clinical trial portfolio and produce associated translational work. I sit on the Cancer Research UK New Agents committee, which complements this.
Melanoma is on the increase and this is not all due to excess sun exposure. I chair the Sheffield Melanoma Research Group which has obtained collaborative grants. Funding was obtained from Weston Park Hospital Cancer Charity to look for epidemiology and biological features of cutaneous melanoma (principal investigators: Dr Sarah Danson, Dr Angela Cox, Dr Dawn Teare, Dr Kevin Walters, Dr Andrew McDonagh, Dr David Hughes). 87 patients were enrolled into the GEMS study (Genetics and Epidemiology of Melanoma in Sheffield).
Translational work on the samples is ongoing. The WPH Cancer Charity has also funded a grant to identify novel genes regulating the development of uveal melanoma metastases (principal investigators: Dr Karen Sisley, Dr Sarah Danson, Professor Ian Rennie). We enrol patients into clinical trials for melanoma if at all possible. I am co-chair of the Rare Tumour Group, which aims to increase trial activity in less common cancers such as melanoma. Recent/current studies include agents targeting VEGF (AVAST-M), integrins (CNTO-9S) and CTLA4 (MDX-010).
Thoracic malignancies cause major morbidity and mortality throughout the world. We are currently running a collaborative study between the Department of Oncology and the Department of Psychology to look at the role of smoking status in attitudes to disease and treatment, and Quality of Life (Principal investigators Dr Sarah Danson, Professor Chris Eiser, Professor Penella Woll, |Dr Richard Rowe and Dr Jonathan Wadsley). The has been funded by WPH General Trust Funds and aims to accrue 450 patients with lung cancer and 150 patients with colorectal cancer over a 3 year period. The rapidly changing clinical portfolio for lung cancer includes trials of cytotoxic agents and novel drugs (for example EGFR inhibitors and MAGE vaccines). The incidences of lung cancer and mesothelioma are high in North Trent. Clinical trials have been infrequent in these patient groups but we have accrued well due to a committed team of oncologists, thoracic surgeons, pathologists and radiologists.
Teaching Interests
My undergraduate teaching involves the special study module in oncology and the oncology study day.
Postgraduate interests include teaching to all grades of doctor in a wide variety of fields (such as oncology, dermatology, plastic surgery and respiratory medicine).
Professional Activities
I am a member of:
Cancer Research UK New Agents Committee
NCRI Melanoma Group
EORTC Melanoma Group
EORTC Lung Group
Current Projects
See above.
Key Publications
Wheatley-Price P, Blackhall F, Lee S-M, Ma C, Ashcroft L, Jitlal M, Qian W, Hackshaw A, Rudd R, Booton R, Danson S, Lorigan P, Thatcher N, Shepherd FA. The influence of sex and histology on outcomes in non-small cell lung cancer: a pooled analysis of 5 randomised trials. Annals of Oncology (in press).
Sabharwal A, Waters R, Danson S, Clamp A, Lorigan P, Thatcher N, Margison GP, Middleton MR. Predicting the myelotoxicity of chemotherapy: the utility of pre-treatment O6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase determination in peripheral blood mononulclear cells. Melanoma Research epub ahead of print, 2009.
Dean E, Jodrell D, Connolly K, Danson S, Jolivet J, Durkin D, Jowle D, Ward T, Cummings J, Dickinson G, Aarons L, LaCasse E, Robson L, Dive C, Ranson M. Phase I trial of AEG35156 (XIAP Antisense) administered as a 7-day and 3-day continuous intravenous infusion in patients with advanced refractory cancer. Journal of Clinical Oncology 27(10):1660-6, 2009.
Boss DS, Schwartz GK, Middleton M, Amakye D, Swaisland H, Midgley RS, Ranson M, Danson S, Calvert H, Plummer R, Morris C, Carvajal RD, Chirieac LR, Schnellens JH, Shapiro G. Safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of the oral cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor AZD5438 when administered at intermittent and continuous dosing schedules in patients with advanced solid cancers. Annals of Oncology epub ahead of print, 2009.
O´Byrne KJ, Danson S, Dunlop D, Botwood N, Taguchi F, Carbone D, Ranson M. Combination therapy with gefitinib and rofecoxib in patients with platinum-pretreated relapsed non-small-cell lung cancer. Journal of Clinical Oncology 25:3266-73, 2007.
Danson S, Ranson M, Denneny O, Cummings J, Ward TH. Validation of the comet-X assay as a pharmacodynamic assay for measuring DNA cross-linking produced by the novel anticancer agent RH1 during a phase I clinical trial. Cancer Chemotherapy and Pharmacology 60(6):851-61, 2007.
Welman A, Cawthorne C, Ponce-Perez L. Barraclough J, Danson S, Murray S, Cummings J, Allen TD, Dive C. Increases in c-src expression level and activity do not promote the growth of human colorectal carcinoma cells in vitro and in vivo. Neoplasia 8(11):905-16, 2006.
Payne M, Ellis P, Dunlop D, Ranson M, Danson S, Schacter L, Talbot D. DHA-paclitaxel (Taxoprexin) as first-line treatment in patients with stage IIIb or IV non-small cell lung cancer: report of a phase II open-label multi-centre trial. Journal of Thoracic Oncology 1(9):984-90, 2006.
Baka S, Ranson M, Lorigan P, Danson S, Linton K, Hoogendam I, Mettinger K, Thatcher N. A phase II trial of RFS 2000 (Rubitecan) in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer. European Journal of Cancer 41(11):1547-50, 2005.
Le Chevalier T, Scagliotti G, Natale R, Danson S, Rosell R, Stahel R, Thomas P, Rudd RM, Vansteenkiste J, Thatcher N, Manegold C, Pujol J-L, van Zandwijk N, Gridelli C, Van Meerbeeck, JL, Crino L, Brown A, Fitzgerald P, Aristides M, Schiller J. Efficacy of gemcitabine plus platinum chemotherapy compared with other platinum containing regimens in advanced non-small cell lung cancer: a meta-analysis of survival outcomes. Lung Cancer 47 (1): 69-80, 2005.
Ward TH, Danson S, McGown AT, Ranson M, Coe NA, Jayson GC, Cummings J, Hargreaves RHJ, Butler J. Pre-clinical evaluation of the pharmacodynamic properties of 2,5-diaziridinyl-3-(hydroxymethyl)-6-methyl-1,4-benzoquinone. Clinical Cancer Research 11(7):2695-701, 2005.
Danson S, Ferry D, Alakhov V, Marginson J, Kerr D, Jowle D, Brampton M, Halbert G, Ranson M. A phase I dose escalation and pharmacokinetic study of pluronic polymer-bound doxorubicin (SP1049C) in patients with advanced cancer. British Journal of Cancer 90(11):2085-91, 2004.
Danson S, Middleton MR, O´Bryne K, Clemons M, Ranson M, Hassan J, Anderson H, Burt P, Faivre-Finn C, Stout R, Dowd I, Ashcroft L, Beresford C, Thatcher N. A phase III trial of gemcitabine with carboplatin (GC) versus mitomycin C, vinblastine and cisplatin (MVP) or mitomycin C, ifosfamide and cisplatin (MIC) as first line chemotherapy in advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Cancer 98(3):542-53, 2003.
Danson S, Lorigan P, Arance A, Clamp A, Ranson M, Hodgetts J, Lomax L, Ashcroft L, Thatcher N, Middleton MR. A randomised phase II study of temozolomide given every 8 hours or daily with either interferon alfa-2b or thalidomide in metastatic malignant melanoma. Journal of Clinical Oncology 21(13):2551-7, 2003.