Professor Charlotte Coles

Charlotte holds the following roles:

Deputy Head of Department of Oncology
Professor of Breast Clinical Oncology
NIHR Research Professor
Director of CRUK RadNet Cambridge
Honorary Consultant in Clinical Oncology

Biography

Charlotte Coles is Professor of Breast Cancer Clinical Oncology, University of Cambridge; NIHR Research Professor, and Director of CRUK RadNet Cambridge. She leads practice-changing breast radiotherapy trials, has influenced international hypofractionation policy and is addressing global health, gender, and equity challenges within the Lancet Breast Cancer Commission.

Charlotte led the Cambridge Breast IMRT Trial, providing evidence for simple breast IMRT as standard-of-care; and IMPORT Low, showing partial-breast radiotherapy was non-inferior to whole-breast with similar or reduced toxicity. She leads IMPORT High with 5-year results showing efficacy and safety of hypofractionated simultaneous integrated boost. Charlotte is a member of the FAST-Forward Trial Management Group, demonstrating that 1-week is non-inferior to 3-week radiotherapy with similar side-effects. These trials have informed NICE guidelines and are internationally practice-changing. She also leads PRIMETIME: biomarker-directed omission of breast radiotherapy; and PARABLE, the first UK breast proton beam therapy trial.

Charlotte facilitated international breast radiotherapy guidelines during COVID-19 pandemic and co-led UK and European Breast Radiotherapy Consensuses, facilitating equity of access to breast hypofractionation. She was awarded a NIHR Research Professorship and led the Cancer Research UK RadNet Cambridge award to develop a translational research pipeline from basic radiation research through to clinical trials.

She was Editor-in-Chief of Clinical Oncology from 2015-21 and chaired the Lancet Breast Cancer Commission. In 2023, she was elected to the Academy of Medical Sciences and awarded the Royal College of Radiologists’ Gold Medal. Charlotte is passionate about implementing patient-centred research through team science and nurturing the next generation of researchers.

Research interests

Prof Coles' research aims are to provide breast cancer patients with the best chance of cure with least side effects, by personalising radiation techniques based on risk of recurrence. She is Chief Investigator of 4 clinical trials with linked translational research:

IMPORT LOW: phase III randomised trial (RCT) investigating intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) and partial breast radiotherapy in patients at low risk of recurrence – in follow up: 2018 patients recruited; 71 UK centres
IMPORT HIGH: phase III RCT investigating dose-escalated IMRT for patients at higher risk of recurrence - in follow up: 2617 patients recruited; 77 UK centres
PRIMETIME: prospective cohort investigating post-operative avoidance of radiotherapy in minimal risk women: patient selection using biomarkers – open: 45 UK centres to date
NEO-RT: feasibility study investigating pre-operative breast IMRT in patients receiving neo-adjuvant hormonal treatment – open: 2 UK centres

She is also Chair of the UK National Cancer Research Institute Breast Clinical Studies Early Disease Subgroup, Editor-in-Chief of Clinical Oncology journal and lead for Cancer Research UK RadNet Cambridge Radiation Research Centre of Excellence and a member of the Cancer Research UK Cambridge Centre Breast Research Programme.

Publications

Key publications:

Publications list:

Google scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=vixMamQAAAAJ&view_op=list_works&sortby=pubdate

Key Publications

Coles CE, Earl H, Anderson BO, Barrios CH, Bienz M, Bliss JM, Cameron DA, Cardoso F, Cui W, Francis PA, Jagsi R, Knaul FM, McIntosh SA, Phillips KA, Radbruch L, Thompson MK, André F, Abraham JE, Bhattacharya IS, Franzoi MA, Drewett L, Fulton A, Kazmi F, Inbah Rajah D, Mutebi M, Ng D, Ng S, Olopade OI, Rosa WE, Rubasingham J, Spence D, Stobart H, Vargas Enciso V, Vaz-Luis I, Villarreal-Garza C; Lancet Breast Cancer Commission. The Lancet Breast Cancer Commission. Lancet. 2024 Apr 12:S0140-6736(24)00747-5. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(24)00747-5. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 38636533.

2. Early Breast Cancer Trialists' Collaborative Group (EBCTCG). Radiotherapy to regional nodes in early breast cancer: an individual patient data meta-analysis of 14 324 women in 16 trials. Lancet. 2023 Nov 25;402(10416):1991-2003. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(23)01082-6. Epub 2023 Nov 3. PMID: 37931633.

3. Coles CE, Haviland JS, Kirby AM, Griffin CL, Sydenham MA, Titley JC, Bhattacharya I, Brunt AM, Chan HY, Donovan EM, Eaton DJ, Emson M, Hopwood P, Jefford ML, Lightowlers SV, Sawyer EJ, Syndikus I, Tsang YM, Twyman NI, Yarnold JR and Bliss JM, on behalf of the IMPORT Trial Management Group. Dose escalated simultaneous integrated boost radiotherapy in early breast cancer: results of the IMPORT HIGH multi-centre phase III randomised controlled trial (ISRCTN47437448). Lancet 2023. Jun 24;401(10394):2124-2137. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(23)00619-0. Epub 2023 Jun 8.

4. Meattini I, Becherini C, Boersma L, Kaidar-Person O, Nader Marta O, Montero A, Offersen BV, Aznar MC, Belka C, Brunt AM, Dicuonzo S, Franco P, Krause M, MacKenzie M, Marinko M, Marrazzo L, Ratosa I, Scholten A, Senkus E, Stobart H, Poortmans P and Coles CE. European Society for Radiotherapy and Oncology (ESTRO) Advisory Committee in Radiation Oncology Practice (ACROP) consensus recommendations on patient selection and dose/fractionation for external beam radiation therapy in early breast cancer. Lancet Oncology. 2022: 23: e21-31

5. Brunt AM, Haviland JS, Wheatley DA, Sydenham MA, Alhasso A, Bloomfield DJ, Chan C, Churn M, Cleator S, Coles CE…Yarnold, on behalf of the FAST-Forward Trial Management Group. Hypofractionated breast radiotherapy for 1 week versus 3 weeks (FAST-Forward): 5-year efficacy and late normal tissue effects from a multicentre, non-inferiority, randomised, phase 3 trial. Lancet 2020;395(10237):1613-1626

6. Coles CE, Aristei C, Bliss J, Boersma L, Brunt AM, Chatterjee S, Hanna G, Jagsi R, Kaidar Person O, Kirby A, Mjaaland I, Meattini I, Luis AM, Marta GN, Offersen B, Poortmans P, Rivera S. International Guidelines on Radiation Therapy for Breast Cancer During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Clin Oncol (R Coll Radiol). 2020 May;32(5):279-281. doi: 10.1016/j.clon.2020.03.006.

7. Bhattacharya IS, Haviland JS, Kirby AM, Kirwan CC, Hopwood P, Yarnold JR, Bliss JM and Coles CE on behalf of the IMPORT Trialists. Patient reported outcomes over 5 years following whole or partial breast radiotherapy: longitudinal analysis of the IMPORT LOW phase III randomised controlled trial. J Clin Oncol. 2019 Feb 1;37(4):305-317.

8. Coles CE, Griffin CL, Kirby AM, Titley J, Agrawal RK, Alhasso A, Bhattacharya IS, Brunt AM, Ciurlionis L, Chan C, Donovan EM, Emson MA, Harnett AN, Haviland JS, Hopwood P, Jefford ML, Kaggwa R, Sawyer EJ, Syndikus I, Tsang YM, Wheatley DA, Wilcox M, Yarnold JR, Bliss JM; IMPORT Trialists. Partial-breast radiotherapy after breast conservation surgery for patients with early breast cancer (UK IMPORT LOW trial): 5-year results from a multicentre, randomised, controlled, phase 3, non- inferiority trial. Lancet. 2017 Sep 9;390(10099):1048-1060.