John Thompson

Biography

 Professor John Francis Thompson (JT), AO, MD, FRACS, FACSwas appointed to the Chair of Melanoma and Surgical Oncology of the University of Sydney, based at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, in 1999. He is author of over 600 peer-reviewed articles in the scientific literature, as well as many review articles and book chapters, and holds positions on the editorial boards of several international journals. JT is Executive Director of Melanoma Institute Australia,widely regarded as the world’s premier dedicated melanoma treatment and research centre. Around 30% of the newly diagnosed melanoma patients in NSW each year are seen and treated at the Institute. The Institute sees over 12,000 outpatients per year and treats over 1,300 new melanoma patients each year. Since its inception in the mid 1960s, the Institute has maintained a prospective research database, and the current international staging system for melanoma was developed by the American Joint Committee on Cancer drawing heavily on this database (over 17,000 MIA patients with long-term follow up, of a total of 30,000 patients incorporated in the (AJCC database). JT is a member of the AJCC melanoma staging task force which is engaged in a revision of the international AJCC staging system. As a clinical academic of the University of Sydney, JT has various responsibilities in addition to his duties as Executive Director of the Melanoma Institute Australia. He is a former Academic and Research Director of the Melanoma Foundation of the University of Sydney, and is Head of the Melanoma and Surgical Oncology Department at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital. He is actively involved in clinical activities, and also in teaching and curriculum development for medical undergraduates, hospital residents and surgical trainees through the Discipline of Surgery of the University of Sydney. In 2014, JT was made an Officer of the Order of Australia “For distinguished service to medicine in the field of oncology research, particularly melanoma, to international and national professional organisations, and to medical education.”

Research Interest

 Pioneered the novel technique of isolated limb infusion with cytotoxic agents for melanoma, a simpler, less costly form of treatment than conventional isolated limb perfusion, but one that is equally effective. (Thompson JF et al. Isolated limb infusion with melphalan for recurrent limb melanoma: a simple alternative to isolated limb perfusion. Regional Cancer Treatment 1994;7:188-192). Trained others in Australia and internationally in the ILI technique. It is now used regularly throughout Australia, as well as in major North American melanoma treatment centres, the UK, continental Europe and South America. Contributions to the development of lymphatic mapping and the sentinel node biopsy technique in the management of patients with melanoma. These studies have led to “routine” radical lymph node dissections, with their associated short-term and long-term morbidity being abandoned. (Thompson JF. Ann Surg Oncol, 2001; 8:44S-47S). The development of preoperative lymphoscintigraphy for SNB shed important new light on cutaneous lymphatic drainage pathways (Thompson JF, et al. The location of sentinel lymph nodes in cutaneous melanoma: new insights into lymphatic anatomy. J Am Coll Surg 1999; 189:195-206). Contributions to the analysis and reporting of international data for the 6th and 7th editions of the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) staging system for cutaneous melanoma. Both analyses relied heavily on data obtained from Melanoma Institute Australia database. (Balch et al, Final version of the American Joint Committee on Cancer staging system for cutaneous melanoma. J Clin Oncol 2001, 19:3635-3648; and Balch CM et al Final version of 2009 AJCC melanoma staging classification. J Clin Oncol 2009; 27:6199-6206.) Involved in the development of an online electronic prediction tool for melanoma prognosis as a member of the AJCC Melanoma Staging Taskforce (www.melanomaprognosis.org, Soong et al ASO 2010).