Consultant Clinical Oncologist
Kent Oncology Centre
Maidstone & Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust
Russell Burcombe qualified at The London Hospital in 1985. He trained in oncology at Mount Vernon Cancer Centre, The Middlesex and St Bartholomew’s Hospitals before becoming a Fellow of the Royal College of Radiologists in 1998.
He completed an MD Research Fellowship in prediction of response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy for breast cancer Mount Vernon’s Gray Laboratory in 2001.
He sought new horizons and more experience as consultant Radiation Oncologist in Christchurch, New Zealand, in 2002 before being appointed consultant Clinical Oncologist at the Kent Oncology Centre in 2004As well as running a busy clinical practice treating breast and lung cancers, Dr Burcombe takes a special interest in providing patient-friendly information for patients.
The innovative Breast Radiotherapy Information film he created was awarded first prize for Best Patient Support Initiative at the UK Excellence in Oncology Awards, 2012.
This was followed, in 2014, by a film on chemotherapy, now used widely to educate patients in Kent and endorsed by the UK Chemotherapy Partnership.
As Trustee of a local charity, Breast Cancer Kent, he has been closely involved in fundraising to provide state-of-the-art equipment for the Maidstone & Tunbridge Wells (MTW) Breast Care Centre.
Two ‘Hospital Heroes’ awards by the Kent Courier and Kent Messenger newspapers, nominated by patients, rewarded his commitment to personalised clinical care in 2013.
More recently, he has worked closely with Macmillan, Breast Cancer Care and Breast Cancer Now to promote and improve the metastatic breast cancer service at MTW.
He continues to run a programme of clinical audit and research, with publications in peer-reviewed journals and presentations at national breast and lung cancer meetings.