The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust

🔬2024 was our best year so far in terms of offering clinical trials to patients 🔬 Cancer patients cared for at The Royal Marsden have increasingly been the first people to be recruited to new innovative clinical trials investigating novel drugs. Over the course of 2024, we have successfully recruited the first patients across the UK for 28 clinical trials, four trials in Europe and two trials globally. This has made 2024 our best year for offering clinical trial opportunities to patients as quickly as possible. Professor Nick Turner, Director of Clinical Research at The Royal Marsden said: “Research and innovation are fundamental to the purpose of The Royal Marsden and at the core of the work that we do. "We have improved our processes this year and shared our approach with other NHS hospitals, enabling patients to benefit from research faster than ever. We are grateful to our patients who generously give their time to help our research community find better ways to care for people with cancer.” Read more 👇 https://lnkd.in/gR7XbEqe

“I feel extremely proud to be an MDU Sister at The Royal Marsden” - Alice Whitaker, Medical Day Unit Sister In January, we were honoured to welcome HRH The Princess of Wales to our Chelsea hospital. Her Royal Highness spent time with patients and staff, including in the Diana McCarthy Medical Day Unit where chemotherapy and immunotherapy are delivered. Dame Cally Palmer, Chief Executive of The Royal Marsden, said, “We were delighted to welcome Her Royal Highness The Princess of Wales to our Chelsea hospital. "It is fantastic for staff and patients, and it shines a light on the work we do, day in, day out.” https://lnkd.in/eCkcse_s

We are so excited to share that The Royal Marsden will be the first hospital in the UK to use the Symani robot in microsurgeries! 🌟 Surgeons at The Royal Marsden are using an innovative robotic microsurgery system, funded by The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity which will support advancements in minimally invasive cancer surgery. What does this mean? 👉 The robot – aka The Symani® Surgical System by MMI (Medical Microinstruments, Inc.) – will be used in microsurgery procedures where surgeons join tiny anatomical structures like blood or lymphatic vessels. 🤖 The robot replicates the same human hand movements of a surgeon but on a much smaller scale (like vessels under 1mm), and will help to not just improve microsurgery techniques, but it also may mean faster recovery times for cancer patients, less pain, and an improved quality of life post-surgery. https://lnkd.in/eBcjtZga The three-year lease of the Symani Surgical System has been made possible thanks to the Denise Coates Foundation and Mrs Emma Bishop’s generous support of The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity.

⭐The Royal Marsden is first in the UK to use robotic-assisted microsurgery system⭐ Surgeons at The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust are using an innovative robotic microsurgery system, funded by The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity, which will support advancements in minimally invasive cancer surgery. The Symani® Surgical System aims to speed up recovery and improve quality of life for those having reconstructive surgery. The Symani Surgical System is a teleoperated robotic platform designed for microsurgery – a highly specialised technique where surgeons repair tiny anatomical structures such as blood or lymphatic vessels, or nerves. “We are hugely excited by the potential of Symani and the possibilities it offers patients in terms of faster recovery, less pain and improving quality of life following surgery," said Mr Kieran Power, Head of the Plastic Surgery Unit and Consultant Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeon at The Royal Marsden. "Thanks to hugely generous supporters of The Royal Masden Cancer Charity, we have the opportunity to play a leading role in this field, helping to develop new, less invasive surgical options that will benefit patients worldwide.” https://lnkd.in/eBcjtZga

In recent years, the treatment of cancer patients has become far more personalised. This is where genomics comes in. As Head of Clinical Genomics (Research) in the NIHR Centre for Molecular Pathology (CMP) in Sutton, Mike Hubank leads a team of scientists who examine the molecular profiles of patients to find mutations that our clinical colleagues can target with drugs. Here, he talks us through a day in his working life. "My team and I work hard to find different ways to ensure that every patient’s treatment can be tailored to achieve the best outcomes. "I cycle to work from my home a few miles away. It helps me wake up and feel ready for the day ahead by the time I start at 8am. I hold weekly meetings with my team to discuss problems and plan our work. Much of my role involves troubleshooting, and my door is always open during the rest of the week so my team feels supported. "An important aspect of our work is testing patients’ samples so that we can match them to an experimental drug trial. We are in the lab every day, processing the DNA from tissue biopsies and blood samples on state-of-the-art sequencing machines to find glitches that tell us which is the best drug for that patient. "Technology is helping us make advances in genomics. It can be a complicated process: it takes one to two weeks to report results, depending on the tests being run, but we’re always trying to make the process better, faster and cheaper. "Clinical genomics is a very exciting part of oncology to be involved in. My ideal is that, in the future, our tests will guide the treatment of every cancer patient. I know I am in the best place to help achieve that goal." https://lnkd.in/ezH6NvyQ

We were pleased to welcome Lord Vallance, Minister for Science, Research & Innovation (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology) and Baroness Merron, Minister for Patient Safety (Department of Health and Social Care) to our Sutton hospital on Tuesday. The visit included a tour of our genomics department and Olayan Day Care Unit in the Oak Cancer Centre in Sutton. It was hosted by: ➡️ Dame Cally Palmer, Chief Executive of The Royal Marsden, ➡️ Professor Nick van As, Medical Director of The Royal Marsden ➡️ Professor Peter Johnson, The Office for Life Sciences (OLS) Cancer Programme Chair and NHS England National Clinical Director for Cancer ➡️ Professor Samra Turajlic, Team Leader at The Francis Crick Institute, Professor at The Institute of Cancer Research and Consultant Medical Oncologist at The Royal Marsden ➡️ Professor Mike Hubank, Director of Clinical Genomics (Research) at The Royal Marsden and Professor in Translational Genomics at The Institute of Cancer Research The Oak Cancer Centre was funded by The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity. During this week's visit, Ministers were also able to learn more about the MANIFEST research programme. Professor Turajlic who leads the MANIFEST programme said, “Welcoming ministers this week was a great opportunity to showcase the purpose of MANIFEST and share our goals for the future. We are still under-serving many cancer patients due to treatment failure and side effects." MANIFEST is a national consortium of clinical and laboratory researchers that are united in the goal of improving our understanding of immunotherapy. MANIFEST involves 16 academic institutions, NHS Trust and industry partners across the country. Professor Turajlic added, “The goal of MANIFEST is to better understand why immunotherapy is successful for some patients and why it might not be effective for others. Working closely with our partners across the UK, we have a unique opportunity to address this challenge. "During the visit, ministers were able to meet a patient who had received immunotherapy treatment, meet our genomics colleagues and visit The Centre for Molecular Pathology where some of the research will be conducted.” 🔗 Read more about MANIFEST https://bit.ly/4gvhqj6

Crafting, dancing, breathing and...happiness 🎨💙✨ Across all our sites this January, all Royal Marsden staff were encouraged to take some time to focus on themselves. We had a busy calendar of activities, each giving our staff the opportunity to prioritise their mood and wellbeing. Our staff work hard to care for our patients and our January wellbeing programme provided time for them to come together, reflect and set intentions for the year ahead. Amanda Michael, Engagement and Wellbeing Lead, said "Wellbeing is important because it plays a crucial role in ensuring our staff feel supported, energised, and able to give their best. "In a cancer hospital, where any day can bring its challenges, prioritising mental, physical, and emotional health ensures we can continue providing the best care for our patients while taking care of ourselves. Happy staff are better equipped to support those in need. "I am delighted to see our staff enjoying our activities - each and every event, talk, class and activity was hugely appreciated. "My hope is that the activities have allowed us all to foster a sense of community and resilience, and that this will help us to thrive and continue to give the very best to every patient."

"It’s a real honour to be part of The Royal Marsden team. All the staff are amazing and, as a volunteer, I’m able to witness how hard they work, so I love that I’m able to help in a small way." Meet Ian, Ward volunteer. Ian started volunteering at The Royal Marsden 10 years ago after a friend who was a volunteer on Radio Marsden, the hospital’s radio station, suggested he look into volunteering opportunities. Here, he tells us more about his experiences. "My friend hosted a weekly radio show, and I would go from ward to ward visiting patients and taking song requests for the station’s evening programme. "Music can help us through difficult times. I love music and I had the opportunity to witness how important it is to people. Patients would often request songs that were important to them, such as the song they had their first dance to on their wedding day. "I like to keep busy and active. So, after retiring from my job as a postman, I decided to become a ward volunteer on top of supporting Radio Marsden. "I’ve now been a volunteer on Kennaway Ward in Sutton for the past seven years. My role involves supporting ward staff by taking food and drink to patients, helping to stock up the storeroom and medical trolleys, and running errands for the staff. "I really enjoy meeting patients, chatting to them and spending time getting to know them. I’ve also spent some time as a volunteer on Smithers Ward and as a meet-and-greet volunteer, welcoming patients and their families as they enter the hospital and showing them where to go if they are unsure." --- At The Royal Marsden, there are more than 425 volunteers who give up their time to support our staff and enhance the patient experience across the Trust.

🌟 Robot-guided ‘smart biopsy’ technique tested on patients in UK first 🌟 For the first time in the UK, a team of researchers at The Royal Marsden treating sarcoma have looked at how, using robotic guidance, multiple biopsies can be taken across different parts of a single tumour and analysed whilst still in the human body. By using this technique, it was hoped that researchers would be able to ➡️ better understand differences across cancer cells in different parts of the sarcoma ➡️ predict growth ➡️ gather more vital information about a particular tumour before any treatment is offered to a patient. Eventually, it is hoped that knowing how a tumour will grow will help to inform clinicians about what type of treatment will work best for an individual patient. The research is made possible through funding by The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity & The Royal College of Radiologists. Dr Edward Johnston, consultant interventional radiologist at The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust and The Institute of Cancer Research, said: “By understanding a tumour in more detail, doctors can basically select the treatments that are most likely to work on an individual patient. Ultimately, it leads to more personalised cancer treatment. “But also in future, if we do more and more of these smart biopsies and understand more and more about imaging signature itself, we really hope that biopsy can be forgotten in some situations.” https://bit.ly/4h0JH17

Research has shown that engaging with the arts in healthcare settings can bring considerable benefits to patients, such as improving their mental health and well-being. The Royal Marsden curates a collection of artworks in our hospital’s wards and public areas. Curating these artworks with patients in our hospital spaces has shown positive results, such as helping to reduce anxiety and stress. The Royal Marsden wants to extend access to our art collection by providing an online space for people to see it. We hope this will positively impact our patients and enable more people to access more of our artwork. We have a very large collection of art from which we would like to offer an online selection. To help inform what artwork to share we would like to ask you, what types of artworks do you like within our collection? You can share you ideas online - https://bit.ly/3CdlYMf