Photo of Professor Robert Thomas MD, MRCP FRCR

Professor Robert Thomas MD, MRCP FRCR

Email:

Location:

  • Royal London Hospital for Integrated Medicine

GMC/GDC number:

2917443

Professional background

Robert Thomas trained as an oncologist at The Middlesex, Royal Marsden and Royal Free Hospitals. His masters degree was based at The National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square and Duke University North Carolina. Now at UCLH, he is head of integrative oncology within the Royal London Hospital for Integrated Medicine. In this role he advises patients on nutritional, lifestyle and other self care strategies to enhance outcomes after cancer, reduce side effects of treatments and improve overall wellbeing.

He was an editorial member of the NICE guidance on supportive care, oncology lead for the DoH working party for Complementary Medicines and was an editorial member of the NCRN complementary medicine committee. 

He is also currently a consultant oncologist at Addenbrooke's and Bedford and Hospitals were he manages patients with radiotherapy, chemotherapy, hormones and the newer biological treatments. He remains a clinical teacher at Cambridge University, a professor of sports and nutritional science at the University of Bedfordshire and author of the book "How to Live".

Specialties

Research interests

He has been chief and principle investigator of numerous radiotherapy, biological, chemotherapy and hormonal trials linked to the National Cancer Research Network, universities or the pharmaceutical industry. He is also head of a Lifestyle and Research Unit which designs and conducts university approved scientific national studies which evaluate the impact of exercise, diet, gut health and natural therapies on cancer, long covid and other chronic diseases.

He is chief investigator of the national covid vaccine nutritional intervention study and the YourPhyto study evaluating phytochemical and probiotic strategies to improve gut health and their impact on prostate cancer progression.

Publications

(For a full list, see cancernet.co.uk/rthomas.htm) 

  • Lifestyle factors correlate with the risk of late pelvic symptoms after prostatic radiotherapy. R Thomas, M Holm, P Bellamy, A Jervoise, J Maher. Clinical Oncology (2013) 25 (4); 246-251 
  • A double blind, placebo controlled randomised trial (RCT) evaluating the effect of a polyphenol rich whole food supplement on PSA progression in men with prostate cancer - The UK National Cancer Research Network (NCRN) study. R Thomas, M Williams, H Sharma, A Chaudry, P Bellamy. Prostate Cancer and Prostatic Diseases (2014) 17; 180-6  
  • Prostate Cancer Progression Defined by MRI Correlates with Serum PSA in Men Undergoing Lifestyle and Nutritional Interventions for Low Risk Disease R Thomas, M Shaikh, M Cauchi, D Yang. J Lifestyle Disease Management (2015) 01 01  
  • A double-blind, randomised trial of a polyphenolic-rich nail bed balm for chemotherapy-induced onycholysis: the UK Polybalm study. Thomas R, Williams M, Cauchi M, Berkovitz S, Smith S. Breast Cancer Research and Treatment (2018), 171,1; 103–110 
  • Replacing sugar with fruit in hospital departments - a real world study BJMP 2018: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10152538/1/bjmp-2020-13-2-a013.pdf 
  • Natural relief for persons receiving chemotherapy – focus on the Polybalm nail bed study. R Thomas. S Smith, S Berkovitz. International Journal of Clinical Aromatherapy 2018, vol.13, issue1 cancer and palliative care ISSN 1961-7623. Pp 2-8. 
  • Dietary consumption of tea and the risk of prostate cancer in the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal and Ovarian Cancer Screening Trial R Thomas, A McConnachie, B Stanley and M Williams. British Journal of Nutrition (2022), 128, 653–658 
  • The Influence of a blend of Probiotic Lactobacillus and Prebiotic Inulin on the Duration and Severity of Symptoms among Individuals with Covid-19. Thomas R, Aldous J, Forsyth R, Chater A, Williams M (2021) Infect Dis Diag Treat 5: 182.  
  • A Randomised, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial Evaluating Concentrated Phytochemical-Rich Nutritional Capsule in Addition to a Probiotic Capsule on Clinical Outcomes among Individuals with COVID-19—The UK Phyto-V Study. Thomas, R.; Williams, M.; Aldous, J.; Yanagisawa, Y.; Kumar, R.; Forsyth, R.; Chater, A COVID 2022, 2, 433-449.  
  • Exercise-induced biochemical changes and their potential influence on cancer: a scientific review.  R Thomas and  S A Kenfield British Journal of Sports Medicine 2017;51:640-644. 
  • Why exercise has a crucial role in cancer prevention, risk reduction and improved outcomes, R Thomas, S A Kenfield, Y Yanagisawa, R U Newton, British Medical Bulletin, 2021;, ldab019, https://doi.org/10.1093/bmb/ldab019 
  • Multiple biological mechanisms for the potential influence of phytochemicals on physical activity performance: a narrative review. R Thomas, M Williams , J Aldous  and K Wyld. Nutraceuticals (2023) 3 (3), 353-365