Penny Kechagioglou | Senior Consultant Clinical Oncologist and Chief Clinical Information Officer, University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire, Coventry; Chief Medical Officer, Icon Group, London, UK
Citation: EMJ Oncol. 2026; https://doi.org/10.33590/emjoncol/4V1O1127
What initially drew you to specialising in breast cancer, and what keeps you passionate about it after more than 20 years?
Breast cancer is an evolving field in medicine, with new research in the discovery of chemotherapeutic and radio-isotopic treatments continuously advancing our practice, and new technological innovations in radiotherapy treatments and delivery being established. Women, and to a lesser extent men, get diagnosed with breast cancer at an earlier age than ever before, often with more aggressive cancers than before, so it is really important that we invest in prevention, early diagnosis, genomic and genetic testing, and improving patient access to treatments and care experiences. Breast cancer is a multidisciplinary speciality, and I am passionate about leading high-performing multidisciplinary teams and working with diverse colleagues to improve cancer outcomes.
What has been the biggest highlight of your career so far?
I have had the privilege of leading a portfolio career, working as a clinician and healthcare leader across the public, private, and charitable sectors. Staying true to my values whilst serving in various senior leadership roles in the NHS and the private sector has been very important to me. This has led to various national recognition awards, including being a recognised authority in health system innovation, named among the top 100 women shaping NHS technology and leadership in 2026, within the top 100 UK leaders in digital health impact in 2025, as well as Chief Clinical Information Officer of the Year in 2025.
How important is genomic testing when deciding the right treatment for individual patients?
Genomic testing has revolutionised the diagnosis and treatment of cancer patients. We can now test for DNA mutations with a simple blood test in clinic, and within a quick turnaround be able to understand the nature of cancers and prescribe personalised treatments to patients with a greater success rate, achieving full or partial control of the disease. Genomic testing also helps us distinguish who will benefit from chemotherapy and who will not, and therefore we have managed to spare thousands of patients unnecessary treatments.
You specialise in advanced radiotherapy techniques such as volumetric-modulated arc therapy, deep inspiration breath-hold, and partial breast irradiation. How have these technologies improved outcomes and the patient experience?
Radiotherapy research in breast cancer has led to shortened treatments for a great majority of patients, from 5 weeks to 5 days, which means better patient experiences and the same good outcomes. Specialised techniques such as deep inspiration breath-hold and volumetric-modulated arc therapy have significantly reduced the exposure of normal tissues, including the heart, to radiotherapy, targeting the radiation beam more effectively to the treatment areas whilst sparing normal tissues. Stereotactic radiotherapy has enabled high-dose radiotherapy to be delivered to small volumes of metastatic disease, hence achieving much better long-term outcomes, including overall survival for patients.
You are also a strong advocate for integrative oncology (IO). How can lifestyle factors such as nutrition and mental wellbeing complement conventional cancer treatment?
One in four cancers are due to lifestyle factors alone, so it is important to lead a healthy lifestyle if we want to reduce the risk of developing cancer. There is plenty of research evidence that suggests exercise, medicine, nutrition, and psychological support complement conventional oncological treatments such as chemotherapy, immunotherapy, and radiotherapy, improving outcomes for patients including overall survival, fewer side-effects, better energy, and general wellbeing for patients. International centres that apply an IO model of cancer care have better survival outcomes in breast cancer and other cancers too.
As Chair of the National Centre for Integrative Oncology (NCIO), what does your role involve, and what initiatives are you currently working on?
As chair of the board of trustees at NCIO, I am responsible for ensuring that the governance, operational, and regulatory matters of the charity are met. Going beyond my statutory role as a chair, the NCIO means a lot to me, as it aims at opening access to IO for patients who cannot afford such interventions. Unfortunately, in the UK, IO is not funded by the NHS, and aspects of care such as nutritional support, psycho-oncology, exercise medicine, and acupuncture, which have proven outcomes, are sought privately by patients who can afford them. Our charity can help; we employ volunteers with expertise in all aspects of IO, we have a free IO app for patients called Oncio, and we are running educational events, including our first annual conference this year, on 19th-20th September, 2026.
With your background in digital health and senior NHS leadership, do you think technology and AI will transform the way cancer care is delivered?
Digital technology and AI are already transforming healthcare in many ways, from better administrative control to quicker patient selection for clinical trials. In cancer care, AI is already making a difference through the gathering of disparate complex clinical information (imaging, blood tests, and genomics) and making evidence-based recommendations for treatments through to the selection of patients for clinical trials. It is important that, as clinicians and healthcare leaders, we remain vigilant during this transformation, checking and ensuring that AI outputs are peer-reviewed and decisions remain clinically-led.
Having worked across clinical medicine, healthcare leadership, and innovation, what do you think the future of breast cancer care will look like?
As research continues to evolve, we have already started to predict people’s lifetime risk of cancer much more intelligently, as well as apply preventive methods. Preventing cancer is the ultimate goal. Once cancer is diagnosed and treated, we are moving towards more intelligent surveillance, with research now looking into circulatory DNA blood tests to predict early relapse, and applying treatments early to stop the spread of the disease. The work on developing cancer vaccines is revolutionary, and research is making great progress in that space. I am hopeful that a time will come when we will be able to significantly reduce the incidence of cancer and cancer mortality through the above advances.
