Dr Garth Funston
Faculty

As a Clinical Research Fellow with CanTest, Garth is currently undertaking a PhD at the Institute of Public Health and Primary Care in Cambridge. His research focusses on improving the detection of gynaecological cancer in primary care. This work will evaluate the performance of current tests for gynaecological cancer and identify and evaluate the potential of alternative approaches and novel tests for use in primary care.
Garth studied medicine at the Universities of St Andrews and Cambridge, where his interest in cancer research developed. He undertook a research BSc and was awarded several research scholarships and prizes. He spent time in cancer labs in the UK, France and Singapore where his work focused on cancer protein interactions and the development of viruses to target and kill cancers. After graduation, he moved to Manchester where he undertook Academic Foundation Training, worked in a tertiary cancer centre and was later awarded an NIHR Academic Clinical Fellowship in General Practice. He was recently awarded a Wellbeing of Women charity grant to evaluate the diagnostic performance of serum biomarkers for the detection of ovarian cancer in symptomatic primary care patients. This research is currently ongoing.
University of Cambridge
Gynaecological cancer diagnosis, cancer biomarkers, research education
- Tests and tools for the detection of ovarian cancer in primary care
- Determining which biomarkers are ready for evaluation in primary care for use in early detection and diagnosis of gastro-intestinal cancers: a systematic review
- Associations between co-morbidities, route to diagnosis and stage in lung cancer: a cohort study using routinely collected data
- Patterns of clinical features prior to diagnosis in patients with colorectal cancer: a retrospective cohort study
- Zhou Y, Funston G, Lyratzopoulos G, Walter FM. Improving the Timely Detection of Bladder and Kidney Cancer in Primary Care. Advances in Therapy, 2019, https://doi.org/10.1007/s12325-019-00966-x
- Funston G, Van Melle M, Ladegaard Baun M-L, Jensen H, Helsper C, Emery J, Crosbie EJ, Thompson M, Hamilton W, Walter F. Variation in the initial assessment and investigation for ovarian cancer in symptomatic women: a systematic review of international guidelines. BMC Cancer, 2019, 19:1028 doi:10.1186/s12885-019-6211-2
- Jones OT, Ranmuthu CKI, Hall PN, Funston G, Walter F. Recognising Skin Cancer in Primary Care. Advances in Therapy, 2019, 1-14, doi: 10.1007/s12325-019-01130-1
- Funston G, Hamilton W, Abel G, Crosbie EJ, Rous B, Walter FM (2020) The diagnostic performance of CA125 for the detection of ovarian and non-ovarian cancer in primary care: A population-based cohort study. PLoS Med 17(10): e1003295. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1003295
- Funston G, Hardy V, Abel, G, Crosbie EJ, Emery J, Hamilton W, Walter FM. Identifying Ovarian Cancer in Symptomatic Women: A Systematic Review of Clinical Tools. Cancers 2020, 12, 3686. doi: 10.3390/cancers12123686
- Calanzani N, Druce PE, Snudden C, Milley KM, Boscott R, Behiyat D, Saji S, Martinez Gutierrez J, Oberoi J, Funston G, Messenger M, Emery J, Walter FM. Identifying Novel Biomarkers Ready for Evaluation in Low-Prevalence Populations for the Early Detection of Upper Gastrointestinal Cancers: A Systematic Review. Adv Ther (2020). doi: 10.1007/s12325-020-01571-z
- Arendse KD, Walter FM, Pilling M, Zhou Y, Hamilton W, Funston G. Time from presentation to pre-diagnostic chest X-ray in symptomatic lung cancer patients: a cohort study using electronic patient records. British Journal of General Practice, 2020, bjgp20X714077, doi: 10.3399/bjgp20X714077
- Funston G, Mounce LTA, Price S, Rous B, Crosbie EJ, Hamilton W, Walter FM. CA125 test result, test-to-diagnosis interval and stage in ovarian cancer: a cohort study using electronic health records. BJGP, doi: 10.3399/BJGP.2020.0859