Head and neck cancer

Project researcher: Dr Akash Srinivasan, Academic Specialised Foundation Programme

During his ASFP, Akash has become involved in several projects, particularly in the area of head and neck cancer.

Head and Neck Cancer

Fluorescent markers to detect and delineate head and neck cancer

Supervisor: Professor Stuart Winter, Nuffield Department of Surgical Sciences

The aim of this project was to perform a scoping review of the literature to identify fluorescent markers that have the potential to improve the intraoperative detection and delineation of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. The scoping review has been published in Clinical Otolaryngology and presented as a poster at the ENT UK Research Showcase 2024. 

In the near future, the team are aiming to perform a clinical pilot study, in Oxford, with an established fluorescent marker called indocyanine green. This will specifically focus on its efficacy in identifying cancers of unknown primary.

The immune-stromal-matrix landscape in head and neck cancer

Supervisors: Caroline Morrell and Professor Kim Midwood, Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology 

HPV-positive head and neck squamous cell carcinoma has a significantly better prognosis than HPV-negative cancer, but the reasons for this have not been fully elucidated.

This project aims to identify differences in the immune-stromal-matrix landscape between HPV-positive and HPV-negative cancer tissue. Akash has been contributing to his supervisor’s broader PhD work by analysing multiplex immunofluorescence images of head and neck cancer tissue samples, using R programming and creating relevant figures.

Other research - surgery in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs)

Supervisor: Professor Kokila Lakhoo, Global Surgery Group

Akash is currently conducting a systematic review into the complications of cochlear implantation in LMICs, with a focus on the socioeconomic and structural factors that influence complication rates.

June 2025