184: The Relaxback UK Show with Mike Dilke - Episode 184184: The Relaxback UK Show with Mike Dilke - Episode 184
UK Health Radio Podcast
Cancer specialists discuss how genomics and precision oncology differ from traditional chemotherapy and what this could mean for future treatment options. The conversation explains electronic molecular tumour boards and how data-driven approaches might support oncologists and patients alike.
25:41•29 Sept 2026
Genomics, Smart Cancer Drugs and the Future of Precision Oncology
Episode Overview
- Chemotherapy affects all fast-dividing cells, while precision oncology targets specific genetic faults in cancer cells.
- Early targeted drugs in blood cancers and breast cancer paved the way for newer precision therapies across many tumour types.
- Pancreatic cancer is starting to benefit from drugs aimed at different forms of the KRAS gene mutation.
- The NHS has strong genomic testing capacity, but interpreting complex results for each patient is a major challenge.
- Electronic molecular tumour boards use software and a global expert network to turn genomic data into practical treatment recommendations.
“It’s really opening or democratising access to best in standard precision oncology care, irrespective of where in the world we are.”
What can modern genetics really offer people facing cancer right now? The Relaxback UK Show with host Mike Dilk brings together two specialists to unpack this huge question in plain English, with plenty of real-world context. You’ll hear consultant medical oncologist Professor Shivansivakumar explain how traditional chemotherapy is “quite a blunt instrument”, hitting fast-dividing cells across the body, while precision oncology aims at “the specific faults in the machinery” of each cancer.
He walks through how targeted drugs first appeared in blood cancers and breast cancer, and how his own field of pancreatic cancer is now seeing a “renaissance” as drugs are designed for specific KRAS mutations. Alongside him, Dr Padman Vamadevan, Chief Medical Officer at Astron Health, talks about spending a decade trying to treat cancer “in a more personalised way, in a more intelligent way”.
He describes how genomic testing can now look across more than 20,000 genes, and why the real challenge is no longer testing capacity in the NHS, but interpreting all that data for each individual. To tackle this, he outlines an electronic molecular tumour board: software does the heavy lifting on complex genomic and clinical data, then a global network of precision oncologists reviews a pre-drafted report and agrees recommendations.
As he puts it, “It’s really opening or democratising access to best in standard precision oncology care, irrespective of where in the world we are.” Shiv shares how this kind of support could give patients options he’d “never have thought about” within standard treatment algorithms, while still grounding everything in evidence-based care.
For anyone curious about where cancer treatment might be heading – and how data, AI and human expertise can work together – this conversation offers a clear, down-to-earth snapshot of a fast-changing area of medicine. It might even leave you asking your own doctor a few new questions.
Do you want to link to this podcast?
Get the buttons here!
More From This Show
The latest episodes from the same podcast.