Dr Thankamma Ajithkumar
Position: Clinical Consultant
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PubMed journal articles - click here
Dr Thankamma Ajithkumar is pleased to consider applications from prospective PhD students.
His research interests include optimizaton of the combination of radiotherapy with novel agents in pancreatic cancer and advanced radiotherapy techniques for paediatric brain tumours.
He is the Chief Investigator of PORTICO-SABR trial which evaluates the feasibility and safety of delivering stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SABR) followed by immediate surgery in operable pancreatic adenocarcinoma. This study will also explore the effects of SABR on the tumour immune microenvironment and putative biomarkers of the DNA damage response (DDR). He is also the UK Chief Investigator of GRECO2 trial, a randomized, phase 2b Study of GC4711 in combination with Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy (SBRT) in the treatment of unresectable or borderline resectable nonmetastatic pancreatic cancer
Dr Ajithkumar is the Chair of the European Society of Paediatric Oncology (SIOPE) Germ cell tumour group and Co-chair of Brain Tumour Radiotherapy group. He is also the radiotherapy lead for the CCLG CNS GCT subgroup, the Cancer research lead for the East of England (EoE) Cancer esearch Network, and the Clinical lead for the EoE Radiotherapy Operational Delivery Network.
He is the lead editor of the text books, Specialist training in Oncology (Elsevier), Oxford Desk Reference in Oncology (two editions), and Oxford Case histories in Oncology and co-editor of the Imaging in Clinical Oncology. He is the author of the recently published Oxford Specialist Handbook in Oncology: Radiotherapy planning.
He is the Editor-in-Chief of Clinical Oncology, the official journal of the Royal College of Radiologists of the UK.
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1. Ajithkumar T, Avanzo M, Yorke E, Tsang DS, Milano MT, Olch AJ, Merchant TE, Dieckmann K, Mahajan A, Fuji H, Paulino AC, Timmermann B, Marks LB, Bentzen SM, Jackson A, Constine LS. PENTEC Organ-Specific Report: Brain and Brain Stem Necrosis After Reirradiation for Recurrent Childhood Primary Central Nervous System Tumors: A PENTEC Comprehensive Review. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2024 Feb 1:S0360-3016(24)00001-4. doi: 10.1016/j.ijrobp.2023.12.043.
2. Sleurs C, Fletcher P, Mallucci C, Avula S, Ajithkumar T. Neurocognitive Dysfunction After Treatment for Pediatric Brain Tumors: Subtype-Specific Findings and Proposal for Brain Network-Informed Evaluations. Neurosci Bull. 2023 Dec;39(12):1873-1886.
3: Lassen-Ramshad Y, Seiersen K, Gleeson I, Mahajan A, Sehested A, Toussaint L, Safwat A, Joergensen M, Agerbaek M, Paulino AC, Ajithkumar T. Influence of radiotherapy technique on incidental dose to the whole ventricular system in focal irradiation of nongerminomatous germcell tumours. Acta Oncol. 2023 May;62(5):503-507.
4. Morana G, Shaw D, MacDonald SM, Alapetite C, Ajithkumar T, et al. Imaging response assessment for CNS germ cell tumours: consensus recommendations from the European Society for Paediatric Oncology Brain Tumour Group and North American Children's Oncology Group. Lancet Oncol. 2022 ;23(5):e218-e228.
5. Ross PJ, Wasan HS, Croagh D, Nikfarjam M, Nguyen N, Aghmesheh M, Nagrial AM, Bartholomeusz D, Hendlisz A, Ajithkumar T, et al. Results of a single-arm pilot study of 32P microparticles in unresectable locally advanced pancreatic adenocarcinoma with gemcitabine/nab-paclitaxel or FOLFIRINOX chemotherapy. ESMO Open. 2022;7(1):100356.
6. Eekers DBP, Di Perri D, Roelofs E, Postma A, Dijkstra J, Ajithkumar T, et al. Update of the EPTN atlas for CT- and MR-based contouring in Neuro-Oncology. Radiother Oncol. 2021 Jul;160:259-265.
7. Hoeben BA, Carrie C, Timmermann B, Mandeville HC, Gandola L, Dieckmann K, Ramos Albiac M, Magelssen H, Lassen-Ramshad Y, Ondrová B, Ajithkumar T et al. Management of vertebral radiotherapy dose in paediatric patients with cancer: consensus recommendations from the SIOPE radiotherapy working group. Lancet Oncol. 2019;20(3):e155-e166.
8 Ajithkumar T, Kortmann RD. "Indeed, Cure is Not Enough" - A Reflection on Paediatric Radiation Oncology. Clin Oncol (R Coll Radiol). 2019 ;31(3):135-138.
9. Ajithkumar T, Horan G, Padovani L, et al. SIOPE BTG Radiotherapy Group. SIOPE - Brain tumor group consensus guideline on craniospinal target volume delineation for high-precision radiotherapy. Radiother Oncol. 2018;128(2):192-197.
