Dr Fieke Froeling
Molecular Subtypes and the Host in Pancreatic Cancer
Pancreatic cancer is one of the most lethal cancers and will soon become the second cause of cancer death in the UK. Working at the interface between clinical care in the NHS and laboratory research, the overall aim of our research is to improve outcomes for pancreatic cancer patients by deepening our understanding of tumour-host interactions driving pancreatic cancer progression and response to therapy. To do this, we perform in-depth molecular and pathological studies of patient samples and use patient-derived preclinical models to create a solid platform of preclinical evidence to translate our discoveries into the clinic.
Biography
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Recent Publications
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Biography
Education and qualifications
- 2020: ECFMG Certification, United States Medical Licensing Examination
- 2017: Postgraduate Diploma in Oncology, Institute of Cancer Research, London, UK
- 2017: Certificate of Completion of Training in Medical Oncology- General Medical Council, UK
- 2012: MRCP(UK) Royal College of Physicians UK
- 2011: PhD Barts Cancer Institute, Queen Mary University of London, UK
- 2006: M.D. Faculty of Medicine, University of Utrecht, The Netherlands
Appointments
- 2020–present: Clinical Senior Lecturer in Pancreatic Cancer, CRUK Scotland Institute and School of Cancer Sciences, University of Glasgow, UK
- Oncology Lead, Glasgow Precision Oncology Laboratory (GPOL),Wolfson Wohl Cancer Research Centre, Institute of Cancer Sciences, University of Glasgow, UK
- Honorary Consultant Medical Oncologist, Beatson West of Scotland Cancer Centre, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, Glasgow, UK
- 2020–2020: Consultant Medical Oncologist, Edinburgh Cancer Centre, Edinburgh, UK
- 2017–2020: Donaldson Translational Research Fellow, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, NY, USA
- 2017–2020: Instructor in Medical Oncology, Northwell Health, NY, USA
- 2019–2020: Clinical Observer Fellowship, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, NY, USA
- 2017–2020: Honorary Clinical Senior Lecturer, Imperial College London, UK
- 2013–2017: NIHR Academic Clinical Lecturer, Imperial College London, UK
- 2013–2013: Specialist Registrar Medical Oncology, Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK
- 2011–2013: Core Medical Training, Ipswich Hospital NHS Trust, Ipswich, UK
- 2009–2010: Honorary Clinical Fellow Acute Medicine, Barts and The London NHS Trust, London, UK
- 2007–2011: Clinical Research Fellow, Centre for Tumour Biology, Barts Cancer Institute, London, UK
Current committee membership
- Member of the Independent Data Monitoring Committee for STARPAC2 (PRIMUS-005); UK
- Member of the Global Alliance for Genomics and Health (GA4GH) Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) Advisory Group; International
- Member of Lustgarten Foundation Translational Advisory Group; USA
- Co-chair of Trial Management Group for PRIMUS-004; UK
- Member of Trial Management Group for PASS-01; USA and Canada
- Co-chair of Polyethnic-1000 Steering Committee; USA
- Affiliate member of New York Genome Center Cancer Group; USA
- Member of ICGC – ARGO Tissue and Clinical Annotation Working Group; International
Recent Publications
2026
Dreyer SB, Bryce A, Froeling F, Jackson S, Santana L, Dickson EJ, Coats M, McKay C, Holroyd D, Biankin AV, Jamieson NB, Chang DK. Clinical and molecular landscape of surgically resected early onset pancreatic cancer. Br J Surg. 2026;113(5).
Pea A, He X, Upstill-Goddard R, Luchini C, Schubert Santana LP, Dreyer S, Duthie F, Jamieson NB, McKay CJ, Dickson EJ, Pulvirenti A, Rebus S, Piccoli P, Sperandio N, Lawlor RT, Milella M, Froeling FEM, Salvia R, Scarpa A, Biankin AV, Wedge DC, Chang DK. Clonal evolutionary analysis reveals patterns of malignant transformation of Intraductal Papillary Mucinous Neoplasms of the pancreas. Nat Commun. 2026;17(1).
Laird BJA, Antonuzzo L, Cabrero DS, Esin E, Froeling F, Jordan K, Kekez D, Skipworth R, Schooneman M, Yalçın Ş, Prado CM, Muscaritoli M. Embedding nutrition into routine oncology care: about time? Oncol Rev. 2026:1639494.
2025
Herbert KJ, Upstill-Goddard R, Dreyer SB, Rebus S, Pilarsky C, Debabrata M, Lord CJ, Biankin AV, Froeling FEM, Chang DK. Sequential ATR and PARP inhibition overcomes acquired DNA damaging agent resistance in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. Br J Cancer. 2025.
Knox JJ, O’Kane G, King D, Laheru D, Habowski AN, Yu K, Perez K, Aguirre AJ, Coyne Z, Harvey H, McLaughlin RA, Jang RW, Grant RC, Elimova EC, Renouf DJ, Fischer S, Duan K, Ramotar S, Jang GH, Zhang A, Devoe CE, Singh H, Pishvaian MJ, Froeling FEM, Saif MW, O’Reilly EM, Tsang ES, Wolpin BM, Wilson JM, Dodd A, Pugh TJ, Ye XY, Gallinger S, Tuveson DA, Notta F, Jaffee EM. PASS-01: Randomized Phase II Trial of Modified FOLFIRINOX Versus Gemcitabine/Nab-Paclitaxel and Molecular Correlatives for Previously Untreated Metastatic Pancreatic Cancer. J Clin Oncol. 2025;43(31):3355-3368.
Kocher HM, Sasieni P, Corrie P, McNamara MG, Sarker D, Froeling FEM, Christie A, Gillmore R, Khan K, Propper D. Study protocol: multi-centre, randomised controlled clinical trial exploring stromal targeting in locally advanced pancreatic cancer; STARPAC2. BMC Cancer. 2025;25(1):106.
2024
Pea A, He X, Upstill-Goddard R, Luchini C, Santana LPS, Dreyer S, Duthie F, Jamieson NB, McKay CJ, Dickson EJ, Pulvirenti A, Rebus S, Piccoli P, Sperandio N, Lawlor RT, Milella M, Froeling FEM, Salvia R, Scarpa A, Bainkin AV, Wedge DC, Chang DK. Clonal evolutionary analysis reveals patterns of malignant transformation in pancreatic cancer from Intraductal Papillary Mucinous IPMN Neoplasms (IPMN). bioRxiv. 2024:2024.2008.2002.606217.
2023
Bergamini A, Ramaswami R, Froeling F, Papanastasopoulos P, Short D, Aguiar X, Savage PM, Sarwar N, Kaur B, Saso S, Fotopoulou C, Sharma A, Rustin GJS, Seckl M. Fertility outcomes following surgery and multiagent chemotherapy in malignant ovarian germ cell tumor survivors: a survey study. Int J Gynecol Cancer. 2023;33(11):1750-1756.
Chung T, Garcia L, Swamynathan MM, Froeling FEM, Trotman LC, Tuveson DA, Lyons SK.Internally Controlled and Dynamic Optical Measures of Functional Tumor Biology. Anal Chem. 2023; 95: 5661–5670
2022
Bryce AS, Dreyer SB, Froeling FEM, Chang DK. Exploring the Biology of Cancer-Associated Fibroblasts in Pancreatic Cancer. Cancers (Basel). 2022;14:5302
2021
Casolino R, Paiella S, Azzolina D, Beer PA, Corbo V, Lorenzoni G, Gregori D, Golan T, Braconi C, Froeling FEM, Milella M, Scarpa A, Pea A, Malleo G, Salvia R, Bassi C, Chang DK, Biankin AV. Homologous Recombination Deficiency in Pancreatic Cancer: A Systematic Review and Prevalence Meta-Analysis. J Clin Oncol. 2021;39: 2617-2631
Dreyer SB, Upstill-Goddard R, Paulus-Hock V, Paris C, Lampraki EM, Dray E, Serrels B, Caligiuri G, Rebus S, Plenker D, Galluzzo Z, Brunton H, Cunningham R, Tesson M, Nourse C, Bailey UM, Jones M, Moran-Jones K, Wright DW, Duthie F, Oien K, Evers L, McKay CJ, McGregor GA, Gulati A, Brough R, Bajrami I, Pettitt S, Dziubinski ML, Candido J, Balkwill F, Barry ST, Grützmann R, Rahib L; Glasgow Precision Oncology Laboratory,; Australian Pancreatic Cancer Genome Initiative, Johns A, Pajic M, Froeling FEM, Beer P, Musgrove EA, Petersen GM, Ashworth A, Frame MC, Crawford HC, Simeone DM, Lord C, Mukhopadhyay D, Pilarsky C, Tuveson DA, Cooke SL, Jamieson NB, Morton JP, Sansom OJ, Bailey PJ, Biankin AV, Chang DK. Targeting DNA Damage Response and Replication Stress in Pancreatic Cancer. Gastroenterology. 2021;160(1):362-377.
Casolino R, Braconi C, Malleo G, Paiella S, Bassi C, Milella M, DreyerSB, Froeling FEM, Chang DK, Biankin AV, Golan T. Reshaping preoperative treatment of pancreatic cancer in the era of precision medicine. Annals of Oncology. 2021;32:183-196.
Froeling FEM, Casolino R, Pea A, Biankin AV, Chang DK. Molecular Subtyping and Precision Medicine for Pancreatic Cancer. J Clin Med. 2021;10: 149
2020
Brunton H, Caligiuri G, Cunningham R, Upstill-Goddard R, Bailey UM, Garner IM, Nourse C, Dreyer SB, Jones M, Moran-Jones K, Wright DW, Paulus-Hock V, Nixon C, Thomson G, Jamieson NB, McGregor GA, Evers L, McKay CJ, Gulati A, Brough R, Bajrami I, Pettit S, Dziubinski ML, Barry ST, Grützmann R, Brown R, Curry E, Glasgow Precision Oncology Laboratory, Australian Pancreatic Cancer Genome Initiative, Pajic M, Musgrove EA, Petersen G, Shanks E, Ashworth A, Crawford HC, Simeone DM, Froeling FEM, Lord CJ, Mukhopadhyay D, Pilarsky C, Grimmond SE, Morton JP, Sansom OJ, Chang DK, Bailey P, Biankin AV. HNF4A and GATA6 loss reveals therapeutically actionable subtypes in pancreatic cancer. Cell Reports. 2020;31(6):107625.
Chan-Seng-Yue M, Kim JC, Wilson GW, Ng K, Flores Figueroa F, O’Kane GM, Connor AA, Denroche RE, Grant RC, McLeod J, Wilson JM, Ho Jang G, Zhang A, Liang SB, Borgida A, Chadwick D, Kalimuthu S, Lungu I, Bartlett JMS, Krzyzanowski PM, Sandhu V, Tiriac H, Froeling FEM, Karasinska JM, Topham JT, Renouf DJ, Schaeffer DF, Jones SJM, Marra MA, Laskin J, Chetty R, Stein LD, Zogopoulos G, Haibe-Kains B, Campbell PJ, Tuveson DA, Knox JJ, Fischer SE, Gallinger S, Notta F. Transcription phenotypes of pancreatic cancer are driven by genomic events during tumour evolution. Nat Genet. 2020;52(2):231-240.
Kocher HM, Basu B, Froeling FEM, Sarker D, Slater S, Carlin D, deSouza NM, De Paepe KN, Goulart MR, Hughes C, Imrali A, Roberts R, Pawula M, Houghton R, Lawrence C, Yogeswaran Y, Mousa K, Coetzee C, Sasieni P, Prendergast A, Propper DJ. Phase I clinical trial repurposing all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) as a stromal targeting 1 agent for pancreatic cancer (STARPAC). Nat Commun. 2020;11(1):4841.
2019
Froeling FEM, Swamynathan MM, Deschênes A, Chio IIC, Brosnan E, Yao MA, Alagesan P, Lucito M, Li J, Chang AY, Trotman LC, Belleau P, Park Y, Rogoff HA, Watson JD, Tuveson DA. Bioactivation of napabucasin triggers reactive oxygen species–mediated cancer cell death. Clin Cancer Res. 2019;25(23):7162-7174.
Froeling FEM, Ramaswami R, Papanastasopoulos P, Kaur B, Sebire NJ, Short D, Fisher RA, Sarwar N, Wells M, Singh K, Ellis L, Horsman JM, Winter MC, Tidy J, Hancock BW, Seckl MJ. Intensified therapies improve survival and identification of novel prognostic factors for placental-site and epithelioid trophoblastic tumours. Br J Cancer. 2019;120(6):587-594.
2018
Tiriac H, Belleau P, Engle DD, Plenker D, Deschênes A, Somerville TDD, Froeling FEM, Burkhart RA, Denroche RE, Jang GH, Miyabayashi K, Young CM, Patel H, Ma M, LaComb JF, Palmaira RLD, Javed AA, Huynh JC, Johnson M, Arora K, Robine N, Shah M, Sanghvi R, Goetz AB, Lowder CY, Martello L, Driehuis E, LeComte N, Askan G, Iacobuzio-Donahue CA, Clevers H, Wood LD, Hruban RH, Thompson E, Aguirre AJ, Wolpin BM, Sasson A, Kim J, Wu M, Bucobo JC, Allen P, Sejpal DV, Nealon W, Sullivan JD, Winter JM, Gimotty PA, Grem JL, DiMaio DJ, Buscaglia JM, Grandgenett PM, Brody JR, Hollingsworth MA, O’Kane GM, Notta F, Kim E, Crawford JM, Devoe C, Ocean A, Wolfgang CL, Yu KH, Li E, Vakoc CR, Hubert B, Fischer SE, Wilson JM, Moffitt R, Knox J, Krasnitz A, Gallinger S, Tuveson DA. Organoid Profiling Identifies Common Responders to Chemotherapy in Pancreatic Cancer. Cancer Discov. 2018;8(9):1112-1129.
Ul-Haq I, Dalla Pria A, Suardi E, Pinato DJ, Froeling FEM, Forni J, Randell P, Bower M. Blood Epstein-Barr virus DNA does not predict outcome in advanced HIV-associated Hodgkin lymphoma. Med Oncol. 2018;35(4):53.
Froeling FEM, Tuveson DA. Pancreatic cancer foiled by a switch of tumour subtype. Nature. 2018;557(7706):500-501.