Robert Rintoul is Professor of Thoracic Oncology in the Department of Oncology, University of Cambridge and Honorary Consultant Respiratory Physician, Royal Papworth Hospital. He qualified in medicine from the University of Edinburgh having undertaken his pre-clinical training at the University of St Andrews. He subsequently trained in respiratory medicine in London and Edinburgh. Professor Rintoul received his doctorate from the University of Edinburgh for research investigating mechanisms underlying resistance to chemotherapy in small cell lung cancer.
He was appointed consultant in respiratory medicine specialising in thoracic oncology at Royal Papworth Hospital in 2005 before moving to the University of Cambridge in 2017. Professor Rintoul is co-lead of the Thoracic Cancer Programme of the Cancer Research UK Cambridge Cancer Centre and Director of the Papworth Trials Unit Collaboration, a UKCRC registered clinical trials unit. Since 2021 he has been the Clinical Lead of the Clinical Advisory Group of the UK Lung Cancer Coalition. Since 2023 he has been clinical director for the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Targeted Lung Health Check.
Professor Rintoul runs programmes of research in early-stage lung cancer and pleural mesothelioma. In lung cancer his work is predominantly focussed on translational clinical trials in biomarker discovery for early detection of primary and second primary lung cancer. In 2014 he founded Mesobank UK, the UK national bioresource for malignant mesothelioma (www.mesobank.com) which is also developing and characterising novel organoid models. His research is funded by NIHR Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre, Cancer Research UK, Medical Research Council and Asthma and Lung UK.
Lung Cancer; Malignant Mesothelioma; Diagnostic bronchoscopy; Endobronchial and Endoscopic ultrasound.
Dr Rintoul’s research is focussed around clinical trials, translational research and tissue banking in malignant mesothelioma and the early detection of lung cancer. He is Chief Investigator for several clinical translational studies examining various biomarkers in lung cancer including the LUCID study investigating exhaled volatile organic compounds for early detection of lung cancer. In 2012 he founded MesobanK, the UK national bioresource for malignant mesothelioma (www.mesobank.com). His work is funded by Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre, Cancer Research UK Cambridge Centre, the NIHR and the British Lung Foundation.
- FRCP - Royal College of Physicians - 2008
- PhD - University of Edinburgh - 2001
- MRCP - Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh - 1995
- MB ChB - University of Edinburgh - 1992
- BSc (Hons) - University of St Andrews - 1989
- Fellow of Royal College of Physicians
- General Medical Council Reg No. 3658334
- Member of NHS England Lung Cancer Clinical Expert Group
- Member of British Thoracic Oncology Group
- Member of the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer
Selected publications listed below with a comprehensive list available on Google Scholar or PubMed.
Key publications:
Rintoul RC, Skwarski KM, Murchison JT, Wallace WA, Walker WS, Penman ID. Endobronchial and endoscopic ultrasound-guided real-time fine-needle aspiration for mediastinal staging. Eur Respir J. 2005 Mar;25(3):416-21. doi: 10.1183/09031936.05.00095404.
Herth FJ, Annema JT, Eberhardt R, Yasufuku K, Ernst A, Krasnik M, Rintoul RC. Endobronchial ultrasound with transbronchial needle aspiration for restaging the mediastinum in lung cancer. J Clin Oncol. 2008 Jul 10;26(20):3346-50. doi: 10.1200/JCO.2007.14.9229.
Annema JT, van Meerbeeck JP, Rintoul RC, Dooms C, Deschepper E, Dekkers OM, De Leyn P, Braun J, Carroll NR, Praet M, de Ryck F, Vansteenkiste J, Vermassen F, Versteegh MI, Veseliç M, Nicholson AG, Rabe KF, Tournoy KG. Mediastinoscopy vs endosonography for mediastinal nodal staging of lung cancer: a randomized trial. JAMA. 2010 Nov 24;304(20):2245-52. doi: 10.1001/jama.2010.1705.
Rintoul RC, Glover MJ, Jackson C, Hughes V, Tournoy KG, Dooms C, Annema JT, Sharples LD. Cost effectiveness of endosonography versus surgical staging in potentially resectable lung cancer: a health economics analysis of the ASTER trial from a European perspective. Thorax. 2014 Jul;69(7):679-81. doi: 10.1136/thoraxjnl-2013-204374.
Rintoul RC, Ritchie AJ, Edwards JG, Waller DA, Coonar AS, Bennett M, Lovato E, Hughes V, Fox-Rushby JA, Sharples LD; MesoVATS Collaborators. Efficacy and cost of video-assisted thoracoscopic partial pleurectomy versus talc pleurodesis in patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma (MesoVATS): an open-label, randomised, controlled trial. Lancet. 2014 Sep 20;384(9948):1118-27. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(14)60418-9.
Rintoul RC, Rassl DM, Gittins J, Marciniak SJ; MesobanK collaborators. MesobanK UK: an international mesothelioma bioresource. Thorax. 2016 Apr;71(4):380-2. doi: 10.1136/thoraxjnl-2015-207496.
Barclay ME, Lyratzopoulos G, Walter FM, Jefferies S, Peake MD, Rintoul RC. Incidence of second and higher order smoking-related primary cancers following lung cancer: a population-based cohort study. Thorax. 2019 May;74(5):466-472. doi: 10.1136/thoraxjnl-2018-212456.
Gale D, Heider K, Ruiz-Valdepenas A, Hackinger S, Perry M, Marsico G, Rundell V, Wulff J, Sharma G, Knock H, Castedo J, Cooper W, Zhao H, Smith CG, Garg S, Anand S, Howarth K, Gilligan D, Harden SV, Rassl DM, Rintoul RC*, Rosenfeld N*. Residual ctDNA after treatment predicts early relapse in patients with early-stage non-small cell lung cancer. Ann Oncol. 2022 May;33(5):500-510. doi: 10.1016/j.annonc.2022.02.007.
Obacz J, Antonio Valer J, Nibhani R, Adams TS, Schupp JC, Veale N, Lewis-Wade A, Flint J, Hogan J, Aresu G, Coonar AS, Peryt A, Biffi G, Kaminski N, Francies H, Rassl DM, Garnett MJ*, Rintoul RC*, Marciniak SJ*. Single-cell transcriptomic analysis of human pleura reveals stromal heterogeneity and informs in vitro models of mesothelioma. Eur Respir J. 2024 Jan 11:2300143. doi: 10.1183/13993003.00143-2023.
de Biase MS, Massip F, Wei TT, Giorgi FM, Stark R, Stone A, Gladwell A, O'Reilly M, Schütte D, de Santiago I, Meyer KB, Markowetz F, Ponder BAJ*, Rintoul RC*, Schwarz RF*. Smoking-associated gene expression alterations in nasal epithelium reveal immune impairment linked to lung cancer risk. Genome Med. 2024 Apr 8;16(1):54. doi: 10.1186/s13073-024-01317-4.
Rintoul RC, Atherton R, Tweed K, Yates S, Chilvers ER. Exposure of patients to ionising radiation during lung cancer diagnostic work-up. Thorax. 2017 Sep;72(9):853-855. doi: 10.1136/thoraxjnl-2016-209641. Epub 2017 Apr 25.
Correia LL, Johnson JA, McErlean P, Bauer J, Farah H, Rassl DM, Rintoul RC, Sethi T, Lavender P, Rawlins EL, Littlewood TD, Evan GI, McCaughan FM. SOX2 Drives Bronchial Dysplasia in a Novel Organotypic Model of Early Human Squamous Lung Cancer. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2017 Feb 15. doi: 10.1164/rccm.201510-2084OC. [Epub ahead of print]
Kuijvenhoven JC, Korevaar DA, Tournoy KG, Malfait TL, Dooms C, Rintoul RC, Annema JT. Five-Year Survival After Endosonography vs Mediastinoscopy for Mediastinal Nodal Staging of Lung Cancer. JAMA. 2016 Sep 13;316(10):1110-2. doi: 10.1001 /jama.2016.10349.
Field JK, Duffy SW, Baldwin DR, Whynes DK, Devaraj A, Brain KE, Eisen T, Gosney J, Green BA, Holemans JA, Kavanagh T, Kerr KM, Ledson M, Lifford KJ, McRonald FE, Nair A, Page RD, Parmar MK, Rassl DM, Rintoul RC, Screaton NJ, Wald NJ, Weller D, Williamson PR, Yadegarfar G, Hansell DM. UK Lung Cancer RCT Pilot Screening Trial: baseline findings from the screening arm provide evidence for the potential implementation of lung cancer screening. Thorax. 2016 Feb;71(2):161-70. doi: 10.1136/thoraxjnl-2015-207140. Epub 2015 Dec 8
Rintoul RC, Treasure T, Macbeth F. Multimodal treatment for malignant pleural mesothelioma. Lancet Oncol. 2015 Dec;16(16):1576-7. doi: 10.1016/S1470-2045(15)00253-3. Epub 2015 Nov 2. No abstract available
Vaysse C, Philippe C, Martineau Y, Quelen C, Hieblot C, Renaud C, Nicaise Y, Desquesnes A, Pannese M, Filleron T, Escourrou G, Lawson M, Rintoul RC, Delisle MB, Pyronnet S, Brousset P, Prats H, Touriol C. Key contribution of eIF4H-mediated translational control in tumor promotion. Oncotarget. 2015 Nov 24;6(37):39924-40. doi: 10.18632/oncotarget.5442.
Rintoul RC, Rassl DM, Gittins J, Marciniak SJ; MesobanK collaborators. MesobanK UK: an international mesothelioma bioresource. Thorax. 2016 Apr;71(4):380-2. doi: 10.1136/thoraxjnl-2015-207496. Epub 2015 Oct 14.
Treasure T, Rintoul RC, Macbeth F. SABR in early operable lung cancer: time for evidence. Lancet Oncol. 2015 Jun;16(6):597-8. doi: 10.1016/S1470-2045(15)70225-1. Epub 2015 May 13
Walter FM, Rubin G, Bankhead C, Morris HC, Hall N, Mills K, Dobson C, Rintoul RC, Hamilton W, Emery J. Symptoms and other factors associated with time to diagnosis and stage of lung cancer: a prospective cohort study. Br J Cancer. 2015 Mar 31;112 Suppl 1:S6-13. doi: 10.1038/bjc.2015.30
de Bruin EC, McGranahan N, Mitter R, Salm M, Wedge DC, Yates L, Jamal-Hanjani M, Shafi S, Murugaesu N, Rowan AJ, Grönroos E, Muhammad MA, Horswell S, Gerlinger M, Varela I, Jones D, Marshall J, Voet T, Van Loo P, Rassl DM, Rintoul RC, Janes SM, Lee SM, Forster M, Ahmad T, Lawrence D, Falzon M, Capitanio A, Harkins TT, Lee CC, Tom W, Teefe E, Chen SC, Begum S, Rabinowitz A, Phillimore B, Spencer-Dene B, Stamp G, Szallasi Z, Matthews N, Stewart A, Campbell P, Swanton C. Spatial and temporal diversity in genomic instability processes defines lung cancer evolution. Science. 2014 Oct 10;346(6206):251-6. doi: 10.1126/science.1253462.
Rintoul RC, Ahmed R, Dougherty B, Carroll NR Linear Endobronchial Ultrasonography: a novelty turned necessity for mediastinal nodal assessment. Thorax. 2015 Feb;70(2):175-80. doi: 10.1136/thoraxjnl-2014-205635. Epub 2014 Sep 21.
Rintoul RC, Ritchie AJ, Edwards JG, Waller DA, Coonar AS, Bennett M, Lovato E, Hughes V, Fox-Rushby JA, Sharples LD; MesoVATS collaborators. Efficacy and cost of video-assisted thoracoscopic partial pleurectomy versus talc pleurodesis in patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma (MesoVATS): an open-label, randomised controlled trial. Lancet. 2014 Jun 14. pii: S0140-6736(14)60418-9. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(14)60418-9. [Epub ahead of print]
Sarvi S, Mackinnon AC, Avlonitis N, Bradley M, Rintoul RC, Rassl DM, Wang W, Forbes SJ, Gregory CD, Sethi T. CD133+ cancer stem-like cells in small cell lung cancer are highly tumorigenic and chemoresistant but sensitive to a novel neuropeptide antagonist. Cancer Res. 2014 Mar 1;74(5):1554-65. doi: 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-13-1541. Epub 2014 Jan 16.
Rintoul RC, Glover MJ, Jackson C, Hughes V, Tournoy KG, Dooms C, Annema JT, Sharples LD. Cost effectiveness of endosonography versus surgical staging in potentially resectable lung cancer: a health economics analysis of the ASTER trial from a European perspective. Thorax. 2013 Sep 24. doi: 10.1136/thoraxjnl-2013-204374.
Sharples LD, Jackson C, Wheaton E, Griffith G, Annema JT, Dooms C, Tournoy KG, Deschepper E, Hughes V, Magee L, Buxton M, Rintoul RC. Clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of endobronchial and endoscopic ultrasound relative to surgical staging in potentially resectable lung cancer: results from the ASTER randomised controlled trial. Health Technol Assess. 2012;16(18):1-75, iii-iv.
