Prof Greg Rubin
Chair
A Professor of General Practice and Primary Care at Newcastle University, Greg was a co-applicant on the successful bid for the CanTest CRUK Catalyst Award and now chairs the CanTest Steering Group.
Greg has been active in early diagnosis research for over 20 years and was closely involved in many of the activities that resulted from the English Cancer Reform Strategy in 2007, collectively known as the National Awareness and Early Diagnosis Initiative. He continues to advise on these matters at a national level. Of particular note is his clinical leadership of the National Cancer Diagnosis Audits, the first in 2010, the second in 2016. These have generated many new insights into the process of cancer diagnosis and use of diagnostic tests by GPs, and have informed new models of cancer services at the interface between primary and secondary care. His research group has undertaken evaluations of the ACE programme of Multidisciplinary Diagnostic Centres.
In 2017 Greg was awarded the Cancer Research UK Jane Wardle Prevention and Early Diagnosis Prize for world-leading research in the field of prevention and early diagnosis of cancer.
Follow Greg on Twitter @GregRubin4
Telephone
+44 (0)7831 617963
Institution
Newcastle University, UK
Areas of Expertise
Early diagnosis, cancer services
Projects
- Conceptualising and measuring patient experience in the diagnosis of cancer
- Wales Interventions and Cancer Knowledge about Early Diagnosis
- CanTest Network Analysis
- Are common blood tests being optimally used for early cancer diagnosis? (PhD)
- Comorbidities among patients diagnosed with cancer & how they influence the diagnostic process in primary care
- Conceptual framework for early symptomatic diagnosis of cancer
- CanImpact: the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on cancer detection in primary care
- Patterns of clinical investigation before cancer diagnosis in primary care
Publications
- Rubin G, Walter F, Emery J, and de Wit N. Reimagining the diagnostic pathway for gastro-intestinal cancer. Nature Reviews Gastroenterology and Hepatology, 2018; doi:10.1038/nrgastro.2018.1
- Stanciu MA, Law R-J, Nafees S, Hendry M, Yeo ST, Hiscock J, Lewis R, Edwards RT, Williams NH, Brain K, Brocklehurst P, Carson-Stevens A, Dolwani S, Emery J, Hamilton W, Hoare Z, Lyratzopoulos G, Rubin G, Smits S, Vedsted P, Walter FM, Wilkinson C, Neal RD. Development of an intervention to expedite cancer diagnosis through primary care: Protocol. BJGP Open 4 September 2018; bjgpopen18X101595
- Mendonca SC, Abel GA, Gildea C, McPhail S, Peake MD, Rubin G, Singh H, Hamilton W, Walter FM, Roland MO, Lyratzopoulos G. Associations between general practice characteristics with use of urgent referrals for suspected cancer and endoscopies: a cross-sectional ecological study. Family Practice, 2018, cmy118
- Walter FM, Thompson MJ, Wellwood I, Abel GA, Hamilton W, Johnson M, Lyratzopoulos G, Messenger MP, Neal RD, Rubin G, Singh H, Spencer A, Sutton S, Vedstead P, Emery JD. Evaluating diagnostic strategies for early detection of cancer: the CanTest framework. BMC Cancer, 2019, 19:586
- Renzi C, Kaushal A, Emery J, Hamilton W, Neal RD, Rachet B, Rubin G, Singh H, Walter FM, de Wit NJ, Lyratzopoulos G. Comorbid chronic diseases and cancer diagnosis: disease-specific effects and underlying mechanisms. Nature Reviews: Clinical Oncology, 2019, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41571-019-0249-6
- Koo MM, Rubin G, McPhail S, Lyratzopoulos G. Incidentally diagnosed cancer: population-based evidence on frequency, variation, and commonly preceding clinical scenarios. BMJ Open, 2019, 9:e028362
- Koo MM, Swann R, McPhail S, Abel GA, Elliss-Brookes L, Rubin GP, Lyratzopoulos G. Presenting symptoms of cancer and stage at diagnosis: evidence from a cross-sectional, population-based study. The Lancet Oncology, 2019, doi: 10.1016/S1470-2045(19)30595-9
- Swann R, Lyratzopoulos G, Rubin G, Pickworth E, McPhail S. The frequency, nature and impact of GP-assessed avoidable delays in a population-based cohort of cancer patients. Cancer Epidemiology, 2019, doi: 10.1016/j.canep.2019.101617
- Fitzgerald RC, di Pietro M, O’Donovan M, Maroni R, Muldrew B, Debiram-Beecham I, Gehrung M, Offman J, Tripathi M, Smith SG, Aigret B, Walter FM, Rubin G, the BEST3 Trial Team, Sasieni P. Cytosponge-trefoil factor 3 versus usual care to identify Barrett’s oesophagus in a primary care setting: a multicentre, pragmatic, randomised controlled trial. The Lancet, 2020, 396(10247): 333-344, doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(20)31099-0
- Chapman D, Poirier V, Vulkan D, Fitzgerald K, Rubin G, Hamilton W, Duffy SW. First results from five multidisciplinary diagnostic centre (MDC) projects for non-specific but concerning symptoms, possibly indicative of cancer. British Journal of Cancer, 2020, doi: 10.1038/s41416-020-0947-y
- Helsper CW, Campbell C, Emery J, Neal RD, Li L, Rubin G, van Weert H, Vedsted P, Walter FM, Weller D, Nekhlyudov L. Cancer has not gone away: A Primary Care perspective to support a balanced approach for timely cancer diagnosis during COVID-19. Euro J Cancer Care, 2020, e13290, doi: 10.1111/ecc.13290
- Koo MM, Swann R, McPhail S, Abel GA, Renzi C, Rubin GP, Lyratzopoulos G. The prevalence of chronic conditions in patients diagnosed with one of 29 common and rarer cancers: A cross-sectional study using primary care data. Cancer Epidemiology, 2020, 69: 101845, doi: 10.1016/j.canep.2020.101845
- Koo MM, Unger-Saldana K, Mwaka AD, Corbex M, Ginsburg O, Walter FM, Calanzani N, Moodley J, Rubin GP, Lyratzopoulos G. Conceptual Framework to Guide Early Diagnosis Programs for Symptomatic Cancer as Part of Global Cancer Control. JCO Global Oncology, 2021 Jan: 7:35-45, doi: 10.1200/GO.20.00310
- Forster AS, Rubin G, Emery J, Thompson M, Sutton S, de Wit N, Walter FM, Lyratzopoulos G. Measuring patient experience of diagnostic care and acceptability of testing. De Gruyter, 2021, doi: 10.1515/dx-2020-0112
- Rubin G & Meyer A. Diagnostic errors and harms in primary care: insights to action. BMJ Quality & Safety, 2021, doi: 10.1136/bmjqs-2020-012423
- Rubin G, Walter FM, Emery J, Hamilton W, Hoare Z, Howse J, Nixon C, Srivastava T, Thomas C, Ukoumunne OC, Usher-Smith JA, Whyte S, Neal RD. Electronic clinical decision support tool for assessing stomach symptoms in primary care (ECASS): a feasibility study. BMJ Open, 2021;11:e041795. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2020-041795
- Koo MM, Swann R, McPhail S, Abel GA, Renzi C, Rubin GP, Lyratzopoulos G. Morbidity and measures of the diagnostic process in primary care for patients subsequently diagnosed with cancer. Family Practice. 2021 Nov 30. doi: 10.1093/fampra/cmab139
- de Groot E, Vermond D, Sills VA, Mol SSL, Walter FM, Rubin G, DE Wit NJ. Factors determining development of researchers within a research network on cancer diagnosis in primary care (CanTest): An interview study. BMJ Open 2022;12:e046321. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2020-046321
- Vermond D, de Groot E, Sills VA, Lyratzopoulos G, Walter FM, de Wit NJ, Rubin G. The evolution and co-evolution of a primary care cancer research network: From academic social connection to research collaboration. PLoS ONE 17(7): e0272255 2022. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0272255