Sir Murray Brennan from the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Centre presents annual Marsden Lecture.

At this year’s William Marsden lecture, medical staff and students heard from Sir Murray Brennan, who discussed ‘The evolution of disease based cancer care’.  Dr. Brennan is a surgeon with special expertise in the treatment of soft tissue sarcomas, endocrine tumors, and pancreatic and stomach cancers. He was Chairman of the Department of Surgery from 1985 until June 2006.

Throughout his lecture, Sir Murray took us on a journey, guiding us through the centuries and highlighting key actors in the field of disease based cancer care and oncology. Sir Murray also stressed the importance of using data in appropriate ways to predict outcomes, and that “Cancer care is disease specific not discipline specific,” before predicting that in the future genomics will play an important role in cancer care.

Championing the patient, Sir Murray gave an inspiring lecture and noted that self-criticism was a very important tool for improving disease based cancer care and that we should recognise and learn from those who have gone before us.

The lecture was chaired by the Institute of Global Health Innovation Director, Professor the Lord Ara Darzi and was followed by a networking reception. 

The photos from the evening can be viewed here.