Dr Duncan Mclaren is a Consultant Clinical Oncologist who specialises in Urological Oncology. He offers non-surgical cancer treatments (radiotherapy and chemotherapy) for prostate, bladder and kidney cancer.
Dr Mclaren completed his undergraduate training at St Mary’s Hospital Medical School in London from 1983-1989. While at medical school he undertook an intercalated BSc in clinical science and gained a first class honours. He then left London and underwent general medical training at Queens University Hospital Nottingham before specialising in oncology. He received training in all aspects of cancer care in Cardiff at the Velindre Cancer Hospital before moving to Canada as a clinical fellow to train at the British Columbia Cancer Agency, Vancouver. In Vancouver he specialised in GU oncology. On his return to the UK he was appointed as Consultant Clinical Oncologist and Honorary Clinical Senior Lecturer at the Edinburgh Cancer Centre in Scotland in 1998.
He is a specialist in genito-urinary oncology and runs a large clinical practice offering non-surgical treatment with radiotherapy and chemotherapy for GU Cancer in the South East of Scotland. He also provides the Scottish prostate iodine seed brachytherapy service for men from throughout Scotland. He has an extensive clinical trials programme and ongoing research collaborations with colleagues in the University of Edinburgh and the Experimental Cancer Medicines Centre Edinburgh.
Clinical interests
Dr Mclaren has a specialist interest in prostate brachytherapy (seeds) treatment for prostate cancer. Edinburgh was the first Scottish centre to offer this treatment in 2001. In addition a business plan for 2009 is in place to deliver high dose rate prostate brachytherapy for high-risk prostate cancer. He has an interest in the technical delivery of radiotherapy and offers dose-escalated radiotherapy with IMRT for prostate cancer and conformal radiotherapy for bladder cancer.
He was a member of the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Group (SIGN) that published the guideline on bladder cancer and as a result of that work has been routinely using neoadjuvant chemotherapy before surgery or radiotherapy for bladder cancer. He routinely offers tyrosine kinase inhibitors and immunotherapy for renal cancer and taxotere chemotherapy for prostate cancer. He is team leader for GU cancer trials with in the South Eastof Scotland and through this activity allow patients access to the latest areas of clinical research. He is involved with training and education of junior doctors as college tutor.
Research interests
Dr Mclaren has an on going collaboration in developing a micro chip system to the University of Edinburgh Department of Electrical Engineering and Nano technology for providing real time measurements of tumour oxygen levels. In time the hope is to implant this device directly in to a prostate cancer and individualise radiotherapy treatments for patients when the tumour oxygen level is high, optimising treatment effect. This work is also part of a European research collaborative into tumour hypoxia.
Lastly he has an interest in technical radiotherapy delivery in particular IMRT for bladder cancer and in using enhanced automated computer imaging to accurately outline the target area required for radiotherapy treatment planning.
Memberships
Qualifications
- BSc Clinical Science (1st Class Honours)
- MBBS
- MRCP
- FRCP (Edin)
- FRCR
Key published papers
- A long and winding road: the role of chemotherapy for hormone refractory prostate cancer.
Higgins GS, Stewart G McNeill SA, McLaren DB
Int J Clin Pract. 2007 Dec; 61(12): 1964-5
- Neoadjuvant Hormone Therapy and Hypofractionated Radiotherapy for Prostate Carcinoma:
Outcome Analysis at Five Years at the Edinburgh Cancer Centre
Geoffrey S Higgins, Duncan B McLaren, Gillian R Kerr, Tony Elliot, Grahame CW Howard
- Int Journal of Radiation Oncology Biol. Phys., Vol 65, No A concomitant tumour boost in bladder irradiation:
Patient suitability and the potential of intensity-modulated radiotherapy.
Ludvig Paul Muren, Anthony Thomas Redpath, Duncan McLaren et al
Radiotherapy and Oncology 80 (2006) 98-105 4, pp 982-989, 2006
- Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy for Transitional Cell Carcinoma of the Bladder Clinical Oncology RCOR (2005) 17:503-507
Treatments offered
- Prostate brachytherapy
- Conformal and intensity modulated (IMRT) high dose external beam radiotherapy for prostate and bladder cancer
- Chemotherapy for prostate and bladder cancer
- Immunotherapy and tyrosine kinase inhibitor therapy for kidney cancer
- Symptom control of advanced genito-urinary cancer
- Clinical trials
