Research

I am the lead for solid tumor research at Barts Cancer Institute. I also lead the genitourinary (GU) cancer group at BCI.

My work focuses on a spectrum of clinical studies from phase I to randomised phase III. The majority of the studies are translational phase II studies investigating novel targeted and immune therapies. They exploit functional imaging and tissue collection.

Alongside these trials, our research focuses on correlation of novel biomarkers and aims to define markers that are of prognostic value and can predict response or resistance to therapy.

I have written over 100 peer review papers in this area and have grant income from national and international funding bodies.

I am on the editorial board of a number of journals and am part of the faculty for the major global oncology meetings.

Other Activities

• NCRN bladder cancer CSG
• NCRN renal cancer CSG
• NCRN translational oncology group
• NCRN CRPC studies group
• EORTC-GU executive committee
• ESMO faculty for GU cancer
• Editorial board of Clinical Genitourinary Cancer
• Co chair of trans Atlantic bladder cancer consortium
• International guidelines for testis cancer and renal cancer

Major Funding

• 2015-2020- Astrazeneca UK Limited, PDL-1 combination targeted therapy with AZ6094 in metastatic renal cancer (CALYPSO), £3,199,998
• 2015-2020- F Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd, Treatment of transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder-ABACUS, £2,644,429
• 2013-2018- Millenium Pharmaceuticals Inc, NEPTUNE study of neoadjuvant TAK-700 and leuprorelin acetate versus surgery alone in intermediate and high risk clinically localized, £979,682
• 2012-2017- AstraZeneca UK Limited, Comparing AZD2014 and EVEROLIMUS, £906,000
• 2010-2015- GlaxoSmithKline Research & Development, A phase II study investigating upfront pazopanib in metastatic clear cell renal cancer (PANTHER), £1,155,763

Recent Publications

Genomic landscape of platinum resistant and sensitive testicular cancers Loveday C, Litchfield K, Proszek PZ et al. Nature Communications (2020) 11(7)

Patient-reported outcomes in a phase 2 study comparing atezolizumab alone or with bevacizumab vs sunitinib in previously untreated metastatic renal cell carcinoma Pal SK, McDermott DF, Atkins MB et al. BJU International (2020) 126(7) 73-82

Polygenic risk for skin autoimmunity impacts immune checkpoint blockade in bladder cancer Khan Z, Di Nucci F, Kwan A et al. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (2020) 117(7) 12288-12294

Advice Regarding Systemic Therapy in Patients with Urological Cancers During the COVID-19 Pandemic Gillessen S, Powles T European Urology (2020) 77(7) 667-668

Patient-Reported Outcomes from the Phase III Randomized IMmotion151 Trial: Atezolizumab þ Bevacizumab versus Sunitinib in Treatment-Naïve Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma Atkins MB, Rini BI, Motzer RJ et al. Clinical Cancer Research (2020) 26(7) 2506-2514

Pembrolizumab as First-line Therapy in Cisplatin-ineligible Advanced Urothelial Cancer (KEYNOTE-052): Outcomes in Older Patients by Age and Performance Status Grivas P, Plimack ER, Balar AV et al. European urology oncology (2020) 3(7) 351-359

Publisher Correction: Clinical efficacy and biomarker analysis of neoadjuvant atezolizumab in operable urothelial carcinoma in the ABACUS trial (Nature Medicine, (2019), 25, 11, (1706-1714), 10.1038/s41591-019-0628-7) Powles T, Kockx M, Rodriguez-Vida A et al. Nature Medicine (2020) 26(7) 983

Immune checkpoint inhibition in urothelial carcinoma Szabados B, Powles T The Lancet (2020) 395(7) 1522-1523

High systemic and tumor-associated IL-8 correlates with reduced clinical benefit of PD-L1 blockade Yuen KC, Liu LF, Gupta V et al. Nature Medicine (2020) 26(7) 693-698

ATLANTIS: A randomised multi-arm phase II biomarker-directed umbrella screening trial of maintenance targeted therapy after chemotherapy in patients with advanced or metastatic urothelial cancer Fulton B, Jones R, Powles T et al. Trials (2020) 21(7)

Biography

I qualified from St Bartholomew’s Medical School in 1996 and trained in medical oncology at Imperial College. I completed post-graduate training in oncology in 2005 and received an MD from the University of London in 2006. My thesis was in mechanisms of resistance to therapy in urology cancers.