Dr Thomas Richards

Dr Tom Richards is a consultant clinical oncologist specialising in the treatment of gastrointestinal (GI) and breast cancers. He is the clinical lead of the GI and breast cancer radiotherapy units in NHS practice at University College London Hospital (UCLH) and The Whittington Hospital. Prior to his appointment at UCLH, he was Clinical Oncology consultant in the GI and breast units at St Bartholomew’s and The Royal London Hospitals.

He is an experienced oncologist treating oesophagus, stomach, liver, pancreaticobiliary, colorectal and breast cancers. His specialist expertise is the delivery of radiotherapy, chemotherapy and biological targeted drugs for cancers at these sites. His particular interest is in technical radiotherapy treatments using cyberknife and intensity-modulated radiotherapy and motion management techniques using 4D-CT radiotherapy planning, deep inspiratory breath-hold and image-guided radiotherapy.

After graduation from Imperial College School of Medicine in London, his subsequent general internal medicine training was at King’s College Hospital, London. He undertook specialist oncology training at St Bartholomew’s and The Royal Marsden Hospitals in London. In 2015 he was awarded a PhD from the University of London for clinical and translation research performed at The Institute of Cancer Research, King’s College London and The Royal Marsden Hospital. He studied the mechanisms by which therapeutic radiation affects normal tissues and strategies to detect and reduce late toxicity after curative treatment. He was awarded the Johnson and Johnson clinical research prize in 2012 for work contributing to his PhD.

He is a fellow of the Royal College of Radiologists and a member of The Royal College of Physicians, ESMO and ESTRO. He has spoken and chaired sessions at numerous national and international meetings. He is course tutor and examiner for the Institute of Cancer research MSc course and is the local principal investigator for several GI cancer clinical trials. Dr Richards is passionate to improve cancer outcomes, develop clinical research and deliver innovative multi-modality cancer treatments.