Award for Cancer Research scientist
Dr Nick West, academic clinical fellow from the Leeds Institute of Molecular Medicine, has been awarded the British Oncological Association’s Young Investigator Award.
The national medical award was given to Dr West for his joint research which reveals that undertaking a new approach to colon cancer surgery produces superior colon cancer specimens by removing more tissue, blood vessels and lymph nodes around the tumour therefore reducing the chances of cancer spread.
The research confirms that carefully removing a specific part of the diseased colon from the bowel of colon cancer patients results in a 15 percent greater overall survival at five years compared to using current standard surgical techniques.
British Oncological Association judges at the 2010 Excellence in Oncology Awards in Liverpool this month praised Dr West's work and said it was an example of a surgical education programme at its best.