I am a surgeon-scientist. My clinical research interests include tissue banking, clinical trials, innovative surgical techniques, epidemiology, meta-analysis and patient care pathways. My translational research interests include pancreatic cancer stroma and tumour-stroma cross-talk including cell signalling, adhesion, metastasis, invasion leading to innovative therapies and novel biomarkers.
Phase I clinical trial repurposing all-trans retinoic acid as a stromal targeting agent for pancreatic cancer. Nat Commun (2020) 11(1):4841. PMID: 32973176
Anti-stromal treatment together with chemotherapy targets multiple signalling pathways in pancreatic adenocarcinoma. J Pathol (2016) 239(3):286-96. PMID: 27061193
Activated pancreatic stellate cells sequester CD8(+) T cells to reduce their infiltration of the juxtatumoral compartment of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. Gastroenterology (2013). 145(5):1121-32. PMID: 23891972
Retinoic acid-induced pancreatic stellate cell quiescence reduces paracrine Wnt-β-catenin signaling to slow tumor progression. Gastroenterology (2011) 141(4):1486-97. PMID: 21704588
Biobanking Director:
Clinical trials:
My translational research interests include stromal biology of pancreatic cancer, biomarker discovery, and investigations into liver metastasis and duodenal cancers (UKDCSG). My clinical interests include clinical trials and epidemiology in patients with hepato-biliary-pancreatic disorders, surgical development, innovative surgical techniques, risk-assessment and quality improvement. My clinical practice is at the Barts and the London HPB Centre at the Royal London Hospital of Barts Health NHS Trust. My recent work according to research areas is listed below:
Inter- and intra-tumoral heterogeneity in cancer-associated fibroblasts of human pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. Neuzillet C, Tijeras-Raballand A, Ragulan C et al. J Pathol (2018) 248(1):51-65. PMID: 30575030
Stromal SPOCK1 supports invasive pancreatic cancer growth. Veenstra VL, Damhofer H, Waasdorp C, Steins A, Kocher HM, Medema JP, van Laarhoven HW, Bijlsma MF. Mol Oncol (2017) 11(8):1050-1064. PMID: 28486750
PAK4 interacts with p85 alpha: implications for pancreatic cancer cell migration. King H, Thillai K, Whale A, Arumugam P, Eldaly H, Kocher HM, Wells CM. Sci Rep (2017) 7:42575. PMID: 28205613
Expression of polymeric immunoglobulin receptor and stromal activity in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. Arumugam P, Bhattacharya S, Chin-Aleong J, Capasso M, Kocher HM. Pancreatology (2017) 17(2):295-302. PMID: 28173980
PET-PANC: multicentre prospective diagnostic accuracy and health economic analysis study of the impact of combined modality 18fluorine-2-fluoro-2-deoxy-d-glucose positron emission tomography with computed tomography scanning in the diagnosis and management of pancreatic cancer. Ghaneh P, Hanson R, Titman A et al. Health Technol Assess (2018) 22(2) 1-114. PMID: 29402376
ADAM12 is a circulating marker for stromal activation in pancreatic cancer and predicts response to chemotherapy. Veenstra VL, Damhofer H, Waasdorp C et al. Oncogenesis (2018) 7(2) 87. PMID: 30442938
Predicting complications in hepatic resection for colorectal liver metastasis: the lymphocyte-to-monocyte ratio. McCluney SJ, Giakoustidis AA, Segler A et al. ANZ J Surg (2018) 88(2) E782-E786. PMID: 30014560
Neutrophil: Lymphocyte ratio as a method of predicting complications following hepatic resection for colorectal liver metastasis. McCluney SJ, Giakoustidis A, Segler A et al. J Surg Oncol (2018) 117(2) 1058-1065. PMID: 29448304
The Pancreatic Expression Database: 2018 update. Marzec J, Dayem Ullah AZ, Pirrò S, Gadaleta E, Crnogorac-Jurcevic T, Lemoine NR, Kocher HM, Chelala C. Nucleic Acids Res (2018) 46(D1):D1107-D1110. PMID: 29059374
Pancreatic cancer tissue banks: where are we heading? Balarajah V, Ambily A, Dayem Ullah AZ, Imrali A, Dowe T, Al-Sarireh B, Abu Hilal M, Davidson BR, Soonawalla Z, Metcalfe M, Chin Aleong JA, Chelala C, Kocher HM. Future Oncol (2016) 12(23):2661-2663. PMID: 27541064
Pancreatic Cancer Organotypic Models. Coetzee A, Grose R, Kocher H. Curr Top Microbiol Immunol (2019) 10.1007/82_2019_155. PMID: 30790075
Recommendations from the United European Gastroenterology evidence-based guidelines for the diagnosis and therapy of chronic pancreatitis. Dominguez-Munoz JE, Drewes AM, Lindkvist B, Ewald N, Czakó L, Rosendahl J, Löhr JM; HaPanEU/UEG Working Group. Pancreatology (2018) 18(8):847-854. PMID: 30344091
Unravelling the pharmacologic opportunities and future directions for targeted therapies in gastro-intestinal cancers part 2: Neuroendocrine tumours, hepatocellular carcinoma, and gastro-intestinal stromal tumours. Neuzillet C, de Mestier L, Rousseau B et al. Pharmacol Ther (2018) 181(2) 49-75. PMID: 28723416
Unravelling the pharmacologic opportunities and future directions for targeted therapies in gastro-intestinal cancers Part 1: GI carcinomas. Neuzillet C, Rousseau B, Kocher H, Bourget P, Tournigand C. Pharmacol Ther (2017) 174:145-172. PMID: 28223233
United European Gastroenterology evidence-based guidelines for the diagnosis and therapy of chronic pancreatitis (HaPanEU). Löhr JM, Dominguez-Munoz E, Rosendahl J, Besselink M, Mayerle J, Lerch MM, Haas S, Akisik F, Kartalis N, Iglesias-Garcia J, Keller J, Boermeester M, Werner J, Dumonceau JM, Fockens P, Drewes A, Ceyhan G, Lindkvist B, Drenth J, Ewald N, Hardt P, de Madaria E, Witt H, Schneider A, Manfredi R, Brøndum FJ, Rudolf S, Bollen T, Bruno M; HaPanEU/UEG Working Group. United European Gastroenterol J (2017) 5(2):153-199. PMID: 28344786
Factors affecting length of stay after percutaneous biliary interventions. Roy M, Kyaw Tun J, Banerjee A et al. Br J Radiol (2019) 92(1096):20180814. PMID: 30359118
Solid pseudopapillary tumour of the pancreas: clinicopathological analysis. McCluney S, Wijesuriya N, Sheshappanavar V et al. ANZ J Surg (2018) 88(9):891-895. PMID: 29316119
Complications of biliary-enteric anastomoses. Kadaba RS, Bowers KA, Khorsandi S, Hutchins RR, Abraham AT, Sarker SJ, Bhattacharya S, Kocher HM. Ann R Coll Surg Engl (2017) 99(3):210-215. PMID: 27659373
Role of laparoscopy in hepatobiliary malignancies. Arumugam P, Balarajah V, Watt J, Abraham AT, Bhattacharya S, Kocher HM. Indian J Med Res (2016) 143(4):414-9. PMID: 27377496
Resection rate, hospital procedure volume and survival in pancreatic cancer patients in England: Population-based study, 2005-2009. Coupland VH, Konfortion J, Jack RH, Allum W, Kocher HM, Riaz SP, Lüchtenborg M, Møller H. Eur J Surg Oncol (2016) 42(2):190-6. PMID: 26705143
Outcome after surgical resection for duodenal adenocarcinoma in the UK. Solaini L, Jamieson NB, Metcalfe M, Abu Hilal M, Soonawalla Z, Davidson BR, McKay C, Kocher HM; UK Duodenal Cancer Study Group. Br J Surg (2015) 102(6):676-81. PMID: 25776995
Time and deprivation trends in incidence of primary liver cancer subtypes in England. Konfortion J, Coupland VH, Kocher HM, Allum W, Grocock MJ, Jack RH. J Eval Clin Pract (2014) 20(4):498-504. PMID: 24902884
NHS roles:
External roles:
Phase I clinical trial repurposing all-trans retinoic acid as a stromal targeting agent for pancreatic cancer Kocher HM, Basu B, Froeling FEM et al. Nature Communications (2020) 11(7)
Biliary Tract Cancer Kocher HM, Yip VS, Abraham AT (2020) (10) 172-182
Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) for the non-invasive detection of pancreatic cancer from urine Daulton E, Wicaksono AN, Tiele A et al. Talanta (2021) 221(1)
CRABP2 and FABP5 expression levels in diseased and normal pancreas Hughes CS, ChinAleong JA, Kocher HM Annals of Diagnostic Pathology (2020) 47(7)
High-grade mesenchymal pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma drives stromal deactivation through CSF-1 Steins A, van Mackelenbergh MG, van der Zalm AP et al. EMBO Reports (2020) 21(7)
450 CLONAL DYNAMICS AND CELL-OF-ORIGIN OF NORMAL HEPATOCYTE EXPANSIONS IN HOMEOSTATIC HUMAN LIVERS AND THEIR ASSOCIATION WITH THE BILIARY EPITHELIUM Passman AM, Haughey MJ, Carlotti E et al. Gastroenterology (2020) 158(1) s-1276
CLONAL DYNAMICS AND CELL-OF-ORIGIN OF NORMAL HEPATOCYTE EXPANSIONS IN HOMEOSTATIC HUMAN LIVERS AND THEIR ASSOCIATION WITH THE BILIARY EPITHELIUM Passman AM, Haughey MJ, Carlotti E et al. GASTROENTEROLOGY (2020) 158(11) S1276-S1276
http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=WOS:000540349504191&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=612ae0d773dcbdba3046f6df545e9f6a
Fibronectin acts as a molecular switch to determine SPARC function in pancreatic cancer Munasinghe A, Malik K, Mohamedi F et al. Cancer Letters (2020) 477(7) 88-96
A Novel Scaffold-Based Hybrid Multicellular Model for Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma—Toward a Better Mimicry of the in vivo Tumor Microenvironment Gupta P, Pérez-Mancera PA, Kocher H et al. Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology (2020) 8(7)
Urine metallomics signature as an indicator of pancreatic cancer. Schilling K, Larner F, Saad A et al. Metallomics: integrated biometal science (2020) (1)
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32211672
Postdoctoral Researchers
Dr Dayem Ullah, Dr Francesca Delvecchio, Dr Michelle Goulart, Dr Abigail Coetzee
PhD Students
Mr Vickna Balarajah, Mr Abhirup Banerjee, Mr Gabriel Agguire, Ms Rachel Fincham, Dr Mohammed Zardab, Dr Konstantinos Stasinos, Ms Lavanya Sivapalan, Ms Minal Patel
Tissue Bank staff
Mr Ajith Vajrala, Ms Christine Hughes, Ms Rhiannon Roberts, Mr Ahmet Imrali, Ms Amina Saad
I joined the Barts Cancer Institute in February 2005 with the award of National Clinician Scientist Fellowship by the National Institute of Health Research (UK). I completed my MD (Res) at King's College London and general surgical and HPB Surgery training in South-East Thames. I qualified with numerous distinctions, awards and scholarships from University of Mumbai in 1993. I finished my surgical training in Mumbai (KEM Hospital) in 1996, leading to a best thesis award for MS (General Surgery).