Lectures and seminars OnkPat Friday Seminar: Precision Therapy for Mesothelioma – seeking synthetic lethality

Short abstract

Mesothelioma is a lethal cancer caused by asbestos. Recent insights into its tumour suppressor landscape are now accelerating new therapeutic strategies using synthetic lethality. This talk will focus on taking drug-gene interactions from the bench to bedside, and discuss how novel clinical trial designs and multiomics are promising approaches to advance therapy for this cancer of unmet need.

Bio

Professor Dean Fennell is a physician scientist focused on advancing stratified therapy and immuno-oncology for patients with mesothelioma . He has designed and led several investigator-initiated trials from phase 1 through phase III (including NERO, CONFIRM, VIM, MIST, MESO2, SELECT). His lab currently focuses on novel precision medicine strategies and understanding mesothelioma evolution.  

He was past president of the IMIG, past NCRI mesothelioma chair. He has co-authored UK BTS, and European (ESMO, ERS) mesothelioma treatment guidelines, and served two terms on the EORTC board and is ESMO faculty   

Prof. Fennell held CRUK clinician scientist and MRC doctoral fellowships. He originally trained in pharmacology and medicine at University College London, then completed medical training in the London Golden circuit, with Medical Oncology specialist training at Barts Hospital, London. He has published 191 peer reviewed articles in journals including The Lancet, Lancet Oncology, New England Journal of Medicine, Nature. He was the 2023 recipient of international prizes; the IMIG Senior Investigator Research Medal, and the MARF Pioneer award. In 2023 he became a fellow of the Royal Society of Biology, and in 2024 was elected as a fellow of the academy of medical sciences,  and Life Fellow of the European Academy of Medical Sciences. In 2025 he was awarded the degree of Doctor of Science. 

Selected publications

Constitutive inflammation and epithelial-mesenchymal transition dictate sensitivity to nivolumab in CONFIRM: a placebo-controlled, randomised phase III trial.
Fennell DA, Hill K, Zhang M, Poile C, Ewings S, Baitei EY, Dzialo J, Nusrat N, Rogel J, Faulkner D, Ottensmeier C, Califano R, Hanna GG, Danson S, Steele N, Nye M, Johnson L, Mallard K, Lord J, Middleton C, Szlosarek P, Chan S, Darlison L, Wells-Jordan P, Richards C, Harber J, Bzura A, Spicer J, Pritchard C, Kamata T, Hahne JC, Jama M, Hollox EJ, Lester JF, Luo JL, Zhou Z, Yang H, Zhou H, Klampatsa A, Griffiths GO
Nat Commun 2025 Jul;16(1):6688

A gut microbiota rheostat forecasts responsiveness to PD-L1 and VEGF blockade in mesothelioma.
Zhang M, Bzura A, Baitei EY, Zhou Z, Spicer JB, Poile C, Rogel J, Branson A, King A, Barber S, Kamata T, Dzialo J, Harber J, Greystoke A, Nusrat N, Faulkner D, Sun Q, Nolan L, Hahne JC, Scotland M, Walter H, Darlison L, Morgan B, Bajaj A, Brookes C, Hollox EJ, Lubawska D, Jama M, Griffiths G, Nakas A, Kutywayo K, Luo JL, Klampatsa A, Cooper A, Halder K, Wells-Jordan P, Zhou H, Dudbridge F, Thomas A, Richards CJ, Pritchard C, Yang H, Barer M, Fennell DA
Nat Commun 2024 Aug;15(1):7187

Abemaciclib in patients with p16ink4A-deficient mesothelioma (MiST2): a single-arm, open-label, phase 2 trial.
Fennell DA, King A, Mohammed S, Greystoke A, Anthony S, Poile C, Nusrat N, Scotland M, Bhundia V, Branson A, Brookes C, Darlison L, Dawson AG, Gaba A, Hutka M, Morgan B, Bajaj A, Richards C, Wells-Jordan P, Thomas A, 
Lancet Oncol 2022 Mar;23(3):374-381

Pleural mesothelioma.
Fennell DA, Sekido Y, Baas P, Husain AN, Curioni-Fontecedro A, Lim E, Opitz I, Simone CB, Brims F, Wong MC
Nat Rev Dis Primers 2025 Aug;11(1):56

Preclinical characterization and phase 1 clinical testing of targeting mitochondrial peroxiredoxin 3 in cancer.
Gibson V, Dzialo J, Messier T, Bzura A, Poile C, Rogel J, Hahne JC, Habibovic A, Stead S, Saaman A, Blyth KG, Szlosarek PW, Lord S, Thistlethwaite F, Zhang M, Nakas A, Wells-Jordan P, Kutywayo K, Butnor KJ, Heintz NH, Naumov GN, Dungey M, Colomina JH, Aktas B, Dulloo S, Spicer J, Fennell DA, Cunniff B
Nat Commun 2026 Jul;17(1):

Accelerating innovations in systemic therapy for pleural mesothelioma.
Fennell DA, Bzura A
Nat Cancer 2022 Aug;3(8):902-904