Prof Thatcher’s research interests include combining targeted therapies with chemotherapy and novel agents for treatment of advanced non-small cell lung cancer, and integrating first-line chemotherapy with radiotherapy for the treatment of small cell lung cancer. Other interests include raising the need for evidence-based therapy in performance status 2 patients and translational research endeavours.

Prof Thatcher is active in clinical trials of patients with non-small cell and small cell lung cancer and is the principal investigator for numerous clinical trials. Prof Thatcher was Chairman of the United Kingdom Coordinating Committee Cancer Research (Trials), Chairman of the Medical Research Council Lung Cancer Working Party, Secretary of the United Kingdom Coordinating Committee (Lung Cancer) and a member of the ESMO faculty.

He has co-authored over 300 publications and is an invited speaker and chairman at national and international meetings.

Professor Calvert is one of the best-known names in the international oncology community. He is recognised for his seminal work on platinum-based chemotherapy agent dosing and the development of the ‘Calvert formula’, which has benefited countless patients around the world.

Richard Sainsbury, chair of this year’s judging panel and BOA president, commented: “Hilary Calvert has had an outstanding career, making substantial advances in research and in anticancer drug development. His clinical commitment has led to innovative and lasting contributions that continue to benefit patients today. He is widely admired for his dedication and integrity, and for the respect with which he treats both patients and colleagues alike. This award is richly deserved.”

Professor Fallowfield originally trained as a nurse at Guy’s Hospital London before completing a BSc in Experimental Psychology at Sussex. She completed research for her doctorate in psychophysics at the Universities of Sussex and Cambridge. A senior lecturer in health psychology at the Royal London Medical College, Professor Fallowfield gained a career development fellowship and a major programme grant from the Cancer Research Campaign.

In 1991, Professor Fallowfield became full-time Director of the Psychosocial Oncology Group and in 1997 was awarded the first European chair in Psycho-oncology at University College London. Her research interests are wide and include the measurement of quality of life in clinical trials of cancer therapy and training in communication skills for oncology healthcare professionals, funding for the evaluation of which is provided by Cancer Research UK.

With an international reputation, Professor Fallowfield has published over 250 papers, and written or co-edited three books. She lectures and runs training workshops throughout the world in psychosocial oncology, quality of life assessment and communication skills.

Dr Nick West’s research demonstrated that the optimal surgical removal of colon cancers can not only improve survival but may also offer a more cost effective alternative to chemotherapy in these patients.

This special award will be given to an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to the field of oncology throughout their lifetime.

This award will be open to all journalists who have excelled in producing accurate, balanced and well-written oncology-related media reporting. The judges welcome entries from journalists writing / broadcasting for the general public or specialist medical titles. The entry requires that copies of relevant articles or broadcasts be provided.

This award recognises an individual or team who has implemented service development or redesign strategies to improve the delivery of oncology care. The winner/winning team will have made a measurable difference to their oncology service. This could be a service which was developed or redesigned in response to a challenge, perhaps resource or budget related, using a novel or innovative approach to optimise the standard of care.

This category is open to any patient association, charity or support group based in the UK. Entries will be accepted through a third party if preferred (e.g. oncology healthcare professional or hospital). This category aims to reward a not-for-profit organisation which has undertaken a compassionate activity to improve the well-being or quality of life of patients with cancer, or made a significant contribution to the fight against cancer.

This award will be given to an individual nurse who has made a significant contribution to improving the care of cancer patients. The winner will have made a measurable difference to patients’ lives by using novel clinical practices, management systems or educational initiatives.

This award recognises a demonstration of outstanding teamwork in any area within oncology education, management and patient care. Examples of the type of work that will be considered in this category include patient support programmes, development of new clinical techniques, practice improvements that have reduced clinic waiting times or initiatives that resulted in the introduction of new services to improve patient care pathways.

This award recognises the effectiveness of any educational items or materials aimed at healthcare professionals working in oncology. Such materials can be part of a broader educational programme or can be single, stand-alone items. These may include clinical research papers, review articles, CD-ROMs, DVDs, on-line activities, disease management packages, posters, abstracts, symposia presentations or awareness raising programmes.

This award will recognise an individual or an oncology team who can demonstrate a well-planned and executed support initiative aimed at patients and/or carers. This could be a single activity or a number of activities which make up an ongoing programme. Any educational items or materials produced as part of this initiative may be submitted with the entry.