Contact

Group lead: Mr Christopher Peters
Email: christopher.peters@imperial.ac.uk

What we do

We are developing a new way to assess the quality of biomarker research and therefore predict which biomarkers are most likely to achieve clinical adoption. By identifying what are the most important features of a biomarker it is hoped that the quality of biomarker research will improve and therefore more will end up improving patient outcomes.

Why it is important

Our published data suggests that between 0.1-1% of biomarkers proposed in the scientific literature achieve clinical adoption with the rest stalling or failing, normally after only one paper. This means much of the research in this field is failing to reach the patient and therefore having no impact on their care. The ability to identify the most promising biomarkers will mean efforts can be better focused and more research will achieve clinical adoption.

How it can benefit patients

If we focus on what makes a biomarker successful, then this should improve the quality of biomarker research and therefore increase the likelihood a biomarker will succeed. In addition, there may be excellent biomarkers, already proposed in the literature, that have stalled but still have potential. By using the biomarker toolkit it may be possible to rescue these biomarkers and then shape the future research to enable them to transition into the clinic.

Summary of current research

Biomarker Toolkit - The Biomarker toolkit aims to quantifiably assess the quality of biomarker research and therefore predict the likelihood of a biomarker achieving clinical adoption. Application of the toolkit will highlight areas where evidence is lacking and allow researchers to better focus their efforts, funders to predict biomarkers most likely to succeed, industry to determine which research to support, and payers to identify the biomarkers to adopt.

(https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12916-023-03075-3)

Assessment of biomarker literature - Application of the biomarker toolkit to specific fields (e.g. blood markers of cancer, breast cancer prognostic biomarkers, etc) can be used to assess the current status of the research area and identify gaps in the literature.

(https://bmcmedicine.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12916-024-03460-6)

Development of new cancer biomarkers - This programme involves the development and validation of existing cancer biomarkers, using the principles of the toolkit, including support of VOC work (with Prof George Hanna) and biomarkers that have come out of the OCCAMS consortium (with Prof Rebecca Fitzgerald).

(https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-023-02676-y)

Development of surgical biomarkers - This aspect programme will tie in with extended indication oesophago-gastric cancer surgery including liver resection, PIPAC/HIPEC and aortic clearance. These surgical activities will be linked with biomarker research including Hyperspectral imaging (with Prof Elson). Hyperspectral imaging aims to use a real-time, intraoperative, imaging technology to classify tissue as cancer or not cancer to allow greater precision in surgery (with Prof Dan Elson). 

(https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamasurgery/fullarticle/2795852) 

Treatment of Peritoneal Disease  - Christopher Peters is the gastric cancer lead for the NIHR funded UK wide PICCOS trial of Pressurised Intraperitoneal Aerosolised Chemotherapy (PIPAC) in patients with peritoneal disease in cancer of the Colon, Ovary and Stomach. 

(https://academic.oup.com/bjs/article/110/1/10/6691226) 

Additional information

Funders
Related Centres
Collaborators

Internal

 

External

 

Clinical trials

PICCOS Trial  

Publications

Savva KV , MacKenzie A,  Coombes RC, Zhifang NM, Hanna GB, Peters CJ. An original study assessing biomarker success rate in breast cancer recurrence biomarker research. MC Medicine (2024) 22:307https://doi.org/10.1186/s12916-024-03460-6

Booth ME, Clements HA,  Helbrow J, Baxter MA, Bleaney CW, Hawkins MA, Markar SA, Peters CJ,  Smyth EC, Crosby TDL on behalf of the UK and Ireland Oesophagogastric Cancer Group. United Kingdom and Ireland Oesophagogastric Cancer Group Cancer Update 2023. Clinical Oncology 36 (2024) e283ee291.

Soussi D, Helmi B, Alharahsheh A,  Boshier PR, Hoare J, Direkze N, Thomas R, Peters CJ,  Stevens S, Endoluminal Vacuum Therapy for the Management of Boerhaave Syndrome: A Case Series. Case Reports in Gastroenterology. Accepted pending publication. 

Harris A, Butterworth JB, Boshier PR, Mavroveli S, Vadhwana B, Peters CJ, Eom BW, Yeh CC, Mikhail S, Sasako M, Kim YW, Hanna GB.Development of a reliable surgical quality assurance tool for gastrectomy in oncological trials. Gastric Cancer. 2024 May 18;. [Epub ahead of print PMID: 38761290.

Nazarian S, Gkouzionis I , Murphy J, Darzi A, Patel N, Peters CJ, Elson DS,  Real-Time Classification of Tumour and Non-Tumour Tissue in Colorectal Cancer using Diffuse Reflectance Spectroscopy and Neural Networks to Aid Margin Assessment. International Journal of Surgery. :10.1097/JS9.0000000000001102, January 22, 2024. | DOI: 10.1097/JS9.0000000000001102.

Peters CJ, Ang Y, Ciccarelli FD, Coles H, Coleman HG, Contino G, Crosby T, Devonshire G, Eldridge M, Freeman A, Grehan N, McCord M,  Nutzinger B,  Zamani S, Parsons SL, Petty R, Sharrocks AD, Skipworth RJE, Smyth EC, Soomro I, Underwood TJ, Fitzgerald RC,on behalf of the Oesophageal Cancer Clinical and Molecular Stratification (OCCAMS) Consortium. A Decade of the Oesophageal Cancer Clinical and Molecular Stratification Consortium: OCCAMS. Nature Medicine. 2023; https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-023-02676-y. 

Savva KV,  Kawka M, Vadhwana B, Penumaka R, Patton I, Khan K, Perrott C, Das S, Giot M,  Mavroveli S, Hanna GB, Ni MZ  & Peters CJ.  The Biomarker Toolkit- an evidence-based guideline to predict cancer biomarker success and guide development. BMC Medicine. 2023; 21: Article number: 383. 

Gkouzionis I, Zhong, Y, Nazarian S, Darzi A, Patel N, Peters CJ, Elson DS. A YOLOv5-based network for the detection of a diffuse reflectance spectroscopy probe to aid surgical guidance in gastrointestinal cancer surgery. International Journal of Computer Assisted Radiology and Surgery. 2023: ePub ahead of print. 

Brown RD, Knight M, Peters CJ, Maleki S, Motavalli A and Nedjay-Shokouhi B, Digital outpatient health solutions as a vehicle to improve healthcare sustainability—a United Kingdom focused policy and practice perspective. Frontiers in Digital Health. 2023; 5: 1242896.

Booth ME, Jones CM, Helbrow J, Mansoor W, Peters CJ, Petty RD, Underwood  TJ, Smyth  EC, Crosby T. The UK National Oesophagogastric Multidisciplinary Team Meeting: An Initiative from the UK & Ireland Oesophagogastric Group. Clin Oncol (R Coll Radiol). 2023 Apr 12; S0936-6555(23)00145-0.

Moorthy K, Halliday LJ, Noor N, Peters CJ, Wynter-Blyth V, Urch CE. Feasibility of Implementation and the Impact of a Digital Prehabilitation Service in Patients Undergoing Treatment for Oesophago-Gastric Cancer. Curr. Oncol. 2023,30,1673–1682.

Case A, Prosser S, Peters CJ, Adams R, Gwynne S, PIPAC UK Collaborative. Pressurised intraperitoneal aerosolised chemotherapy (PIPAC) for gastric cancer with peritoneal metastases: A systematic review by the PIPAC UK collaborative. Crit Rev Oncol Hematol 2022 Dec;180:103846. 

Sivakumar J, Forshaw MJ, Lam S, Peters CJ,  Allum WH,  Whibley J,  Sinclair RCF,  Snowden CP, Hii MW,  Sivakumar H,  Read M. Identifying the limitations of cardiopulmonary exercise testing prior to esophagectomy using a pooled analysis of patient-level data. Diseases of the Esophagus 2022; Nov 15;35(11):doac005. 

Gkouzionis I, Nazarian S, Kawka M, Darzi A, Patel N, Peters CJ, Elson DS. Real-time tracking of a diffuse reflectance spectroscopy probe used to aid histological validation of margin assessment in upper gastrointestinal cancer resection surgery, J. Biomed. Opt. 2022; Feb;27(2):025001.

Savva K, Das B, Antonowicz S, Hanna GB, Peters CJ. Progress with Metabolomic Blood Tests for Gastrointestinal Cancer Diagnosis – An Assessment of Biomarker Translation. Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention 2022; Dec 5;31(12):2095-2105.

Salem V, Hirani D, Llloyd C, Regan L, Peters CJ. Why Are Women Still Leaving Academic Medicine? A Qualitative Study within a London Medical School. BMJ Open 2022;12:e057847.

Baggaley A , Lafaurie G, Tate S, Boshier P, Case A, Prosser S, Torkington J, Jones SEF, Gwynne S, Peters CJ, On behalf of PIPAC UK collaborative. Pressurised Intraperitoneal Aerosol Chemotherapy (PIPAC): an updated systematic review of the use of the IDEAL framework. British Journal of Surgery 2022; Volume 110, Issue 1, January 2023, Pages 10–18.

Nazarian S, Gkouzionis I, Kawka M, Jamroziak M, Lloyd J, Darzi A, Patel N, Elson DS, Peters CP. Real-Time Tracking and Classification of Tumour and Non-Tumour Tissue in Upper Gastrointestinal Cancers using Diffuse Reflectance Spectroscopy for Resection Margin Assessment, JAMA Surgery 2022;157(11):e223899.

Boshier PR, Swaray A, Vadhwana B, O’Sullivan A, Low D, Hanna GH, Peters CJ. On behalf of the Oesophageal Cancer Clinical and Molecular Stratification (OCCAMS) Study Group and Predicting Outcome in Esophageal Mailgnancy (POEM) Biomarkers Consortium. Systematic review and validation of clinical models predicting survival after esophagectomy for adenocarcinoma. British Journal of Surgery. 2022 Volume 109, Issue 5, May 2022, Pages 418–425.

Savva K-V, Hage L, Belluomo I, Gummet P, Boshier PR, Peters CJ. Assessment of the Burden of Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO) in Patients After Oesophagogastric (OG) Cancer Resection. Journal of Gastrointestinal Surgery. 2021. Doi: 10.1007/s11605-021-05177-w.

Antonowicz S, Bodai Z, Wiggins T, Markar SR, Boshier PR, Goh YM, Adam ME, Lu H, Kudo H, Rosini F, Goldin R, Moralli D, Green CM, Peters CJ, Habib N, Gabra H, Fitzgerald RC, Takats Z, Hanna GB. Endogenous aldehyde accumulation generates genotoxicity and exhaled biomarkers in esophageal adenocarcinoma. Nat Commun. 2021. Mar 5;12(1):1454.

Sharma A, Khan S, Chicco M, Peters CJ, Oliver N, Reddy M. New onset diabetes presenting with diabetic ketoacidosis, spontaneous pneumomediastinum and subcutaneous emphysema: a case series. Practical diabetes.  Volume 37, Issue 5 September/October 2020: 183-187.

Blayney JK, Cairns L, Li G, McCabe N, Stevenson L, Peters CJ, Reid NB, Spence VJ, Chisambo C, McManus D, James J, McQuaid S, Craig S, Arthur K, McArt D, Ong CJ, Lao-Sirieix P, Hamilton P, Salto-Tellez M, Eatock M, Coleman HG, Fitzgerald RC, Kennedy RD, Turkington RC; Oesophageal Cancer Clinical and Molecular Stratification (OCCAMS) Study Group. Glucose transporter 1 expression as a marker of prognosis in oesophageal adenocarcinoma. Oncotarget. 2018 Apr 6;9(26):18518-18528.

Brunckhorst O, Guidozzi NM, Warren LR, Peters CJ. Tension haemothorax from a bleeding branch of the renal artery following isolated penetrating thoracic trauma: a rare presentation. BMJ Case Rep. 2018 Aug 16;2018. Pii: bcr-2018-225678.

Peters CJ, Whibley J, Halliday LJ, Chaudry AM, Allum WH. Poor performance in incremental shuttle walk and cardiopulmonary exercise testing predicts poor overall survival for patients undergoing esophago-gastric resection. Eur J Surg Oncol. 2018 May;44(5):594-599.

Our researchers

Christopher Peters

Christopher Peters
Clinical Senior Lecturer in Upper GI

PhD students

Alice Baggaley

Alice Baggaley

Eman Alkizwini

Eman Alkizwini

Kaizong Deng

Kaizong Deng

Laura Halliday

Laura Halliday

Naim Slim

Naim Slim

Nikita Chander

Nikita Chander

Scarlet Nazarian

Scarlet Nazarian

Tianhui Zhu

Tianhui Zhu

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