Genome Integrity & Epigenetics
Our basic research into genome stability explores how cells repair damaged DNA to prevent cancer. We are also interested in what happens once cancer develops, as it is becoming clear that many tumours are defective in repairing damaged DNA. Our work aims to exploit these repair defects to design novel therapies.
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From our Head of Department
Welcome to the The Department of Oncology. The Department of Oncology's mission is to improve cancer care through research and teaching. There is strong emphasis on translation, with established infrastructure to develop scientific insights toward clinical appreciation.
The Department houses over 400 staff and postgraduate students - both clinical and non-clinical - and is one of the largest departments in the University of Oxford's Medical Sciences Division. It is also home to the Institute for Radiation Oncology.
One of the key aims for the Department is to bring together basic scientific and clinical research groups from across Oxford - based in the Old Road Campus Research Building, the Radiobiology Research Institute, the Weatherall Institute for Molecular Medicine and the NHS Cancer and Haematology Centre - to apply knowledge of cancer and to develop research so that we may better understand how we can combat cancer in the most effective way possible.
MRC Oxford Institute for Radiation Oncology
The mission of the MRC Oxford Institute for Radiation Oncology is to explore aspects of radiation biology research that could yield new advances in the treatment of cancer.
Division of Cancer Medicine
The aims of the Division of Cancer Medicine are to understand cancer and the biological processes that govern how it starts, how it behaves and how the body responds to it.
Our News
University of Oxford Announces Opening of PanDox Phase 1 Study investigating Targeted Drug Delivery by Focused Ultrasound for Pancreatic Cancer
1 July 2021
The University of Oxford is pleased to announce commencement of enrollment for the Phase I PanDox study of thermosensitive liposomal doxorubicin triggered by focused ultrasound in patients with pancreatic cancer.
Dr Lennard Lee awarded ACP McElwain Prize for contributions to medical oncology
24 June 2021
Dr Lee (Department of Oncology) received the award to acknowledge his contributions during the COVID-19 pandemic, through the establishment of the UK Coronavirus Cancer Monitoring Project.
Further funding secured to hunt out cancer using innovative radiotherapy techniques
8 April 2021
Initial success leads to new award for Oxford researcher pushing forward new cancer-hunting radiotherapy despite lockdown.
Reprogramming tumour cells using an antimalarial drug
17 February 2021
Results from the ATOM clinical trial at the University of Oxford have shown that the anti-malarial drug Atovaquone can reduce very low oxygen tumour environments. This has the potential to make cancers behave less aggressively and to improve the impact of everyday cancer treatments.