International Oncology Expert
Dr. Nick Plowman MA, MD, FRCR, FRCP
Internationally respected Oncologist, Dr. Plowman has been a Consultant Oncologist at St. Bartholomew’s Hospital and the Hospital for Sick Children in London for thirty-years. His research work has led to advances in medical practice worldwide including the introduction of aromatase inhibitors into breast cancer management and glucocorticoids into advanced prostate cancer management. Dr. Plowman works globally and has deep experience in the UK, EU, USA, and the Middle East. He was trained and qualified at Cambridge University.
Dr. Plowman has also advanced the practice of modern radiotherapy, for example, the use in children with cancer. Furthermore, shortly, he will be part of a team introducing Linac-based proton beam radiotherapy into clinical practice. In addition to his patient-facing clinical work, Dr. Plowman also consults, globally, to healthcare providers, pharmaceutical companies, medical device companies, diagnostic companies, Venture Capital. He also provides an expert opinion in medico-legal matters.
Dr. Nick Plowman: Expanded Biography
Dr. Plowman is a senior clinician, who has enormous experience in the optimal management of cancer of all stages. Dr. Plowman works in targeted anti-cancer treatment and has an interest in the relationship of genetic mutations to predicting response to immunotherapy. In this regard, he has discovered two previously, unrecognized, DNA repair fault diseases.
In the systemic management of cancer, his pioneering research into the discovery of and then the introduction of aromatase inhibitors into Europe, have proved to be the most important addition to standard therapy for breast cancer in the last thirty years. He demonstrated the importance of low dose glucocorticoid (in the addition to testicular testosterone deprivation) in the management of advanced prostate cancer – both these discoveries changing worldwide management of breast and genito-urinary/prostate cancer respectively and saving enormous numbers of cancer patient lives.
Dr. Plowman was the PI (Principal Investigator – oncology) in the trial of chemo-radiotherapy for ano-rectal cancer – which demonstrated that surgery with colostomy was not necessary for cure, in the majority of cases – thus again changing worldwide practice and improving the quality of life in enormous numbers of gastro-intestinal cancer patients worldwide.
Dr. Plowman’s thesis was on aspects of lung cancer for which he retains a major interest – particularly the genomic targeted and oligometastatic disease therapy aspects, for which he published significant research papers.
Dr. Plowman graduated from Cambridge University with a Double First – in Pharmacology, which degree has laid the foundations for his expertise in cancer chemotherapy and its relationship to the burgeoning targeted therapies. He is currently the senior Oncologist to St. Bartholomew’s Hospital, London (with a smaller, specialist role in the Hospital for Sick Children, GOS). He was the founder and remains the Chairman of the Oncology Clinic at 20, Harley Street, an internationally recognized and leading cancer clinic.
Oncology Radiotherapy
Dr. Plowman has more than thirty years’ experience in radiation oncology in adults and children – pioneering lens sparing ocular radiotherapy, linac based radiosurgery and later being heavily involved in Gamma Knife, IMRT, and CyberKnife projects. Dr. Plowman is the director of The CyberKnife® Centre London on Harley Street.
Dr. Plowman has written widely on critical appraisals of new and existing techniques. He has published some twenty original research papers on intracranial radiosurgery and was the first to publish research on spinal radiosurgery for which he probably has the UK’s largest experience. Dr. Plowman supports Brunel and Anglia Ruskin Universities exploring DNA repair mechanisms, their deficiencies with regards to intrinsic radiosensitivity of normal host tissues and interference with these repair mechanisms with particular regard to irradiated tumours.