Professor John Bridgewater

After qualifying in medicine and surgery in 1986, Professor Bridgewater specialised in medical oncology at the Middlesex, Mount Vernon and Royal Marsden Hospitals. He gained a PhD in gene therapy at the Institute of Cancer Research and took a senior lecturer position in medical oncology at UCL and UCLH in 1999.

Professor Bridgewater leads the National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI) Study Group upper gastrointestinal malignancy and the Genomics England Upper Gastrointestinal Workstream, focusing on clinical and scientific research in gastrointestinal cancer. He has led and contributed to landmark studies in gastrointestinal malignancy that have defined the international standard of care of patients with gastrointestinal cancer over the last 20 years.

Our increasing knowledge of the scientific basis of cancer is making personalised oncology treatment a reality. The discovery of faulty genes in cancers that lead to cancer growth has in turn led to the development of novel therapies to target them. An example of this is Professor Bridgewater's work with AMMF, the cholangiocarcinoma charity, championing the case for personalised therapy on cancer (see Molecular Profiling: booklet and video - AMMF).

Through close collaboration with the North Thames Genomic Laboratory Hub at the Royal Marsden and the HCA Genomic laboratories, Professor Bridgewater has been able to deliver personalised cancer treatment using such novel targeted therapies, both bespoke and as part of clinical trials or indeed both. This allows patients to receive treatment that is focussed on the genomic abnormalities of their own cancer and therefore can be more effective and spares the side effects of non-targeted treatments like chemotherapy.

Professor Bridgewater has served on several national and international committees including the Clinical Trials Advisory and Awards Committee (CTAAC), the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence committee (NICE), the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) faculty, the National Institute of Health and Medical Research (INSERM), France and the French National Cancer Institute (INCa). This work permits an understanding of the many constantly advancing aspects of cancer research.

Specialties

• Upper Gastrointestinal (GI) Service

Research interests

Professor Bridgewater's research interests are based around clinical trials offering novel and potentially more effective therapies to patients. He also has multiple laboratory-based collaborations with colleagues nationally and internationally, investigating the reasons why treatments work in order to design more effective strategies.

Diseases, Medical Tests and Treatments

• Chemotherapy
• Bilary Cancer
• Bowel Cancer
• Cancer Unknown Primary
• Gastro-intestinal Cancers
• Liver Cancer