Usha Menon, Professor of Gynaecological Oncology

Usha is Professor of Gynaecological Oncology with a research focus on early detection of cancer. She is Lead for Training and Capacity Strengthening at the MRC CTU at UCL.  

An experienced trialist, she has over 400 publications with a key focus on early detection and risk prediction of ovarian cancer. Her group is best known for the largest ovarian cancer screening trials to date – The UK Collaborative Trial of Ovarian Cancer Screening (UKCTOCS) and the UK Familial Ovarian Cancer Screening Study (UKFOCSS). that have shaped current guidelines. The trial bioresources include unique collections of serial samples that predate cancer diagnosis and support numerous collaborations exploring novel biomarkers for early detection of cancer.

In recent years, a major focus has been strengthening clinical trials capacity, especially in low-middle-income countries. Contributions include a clinical trials toolkit and an ethics application platform for India, an MRC CTU knowledge hub on The Global Health Network, bursaries for training and exchange and helping partner organisations develop Masters's programmes in Clinical Trials.

She is an honorary consultant gynaecologist at UCLH NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK.

Selected publications

Menon U, Gentry-Maharaj A, Burnell M, Singh N … Jacobs IJ, Parmar J. Ovarian cancer population screening and mortality after long-term follow-up in the UK Collaborative Trial of Ovarian Cancer Screening (UKCTOCS): a randomised controlled trial. The Lancet 2021 May 12. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(21)00731-5. PMID: 33991479.

Menon U, Gentry-Maharaj A, Burnell M, Ryan A, Kalsi JK, Singh N, Dawnay A, Fallowfield L, McGuire AJ, Campbell S, Skates SJ, Parmar M, Jacobs IJ. Mortality impact, risks, and benefits of general population screening for ovarian cancer: the UKCTOCS randomised controlled trial. Health Technol Assess. 2023 May 11:1-81. doi: 10.3310/BHBR5832. PMID: 37183782.

Burnell M, Gentry-Maharaj A, Skates SJ, Ryan A, Karpinskyj C, Kalsi J, Apostolidou S, Singh N, Dawnay A, Woolas R, Fallowfield L, Campbell S, McGuire A, Jacobs IJ, Parmar M, Menon U. UKCTOCS update: applying insights of delayed effects in cancer screening trials to the long-term follow-up mortality analysis. Trials. 2021 Mar 1;22(1):173. doi: 10.1186/s13063-021-05125-8. PMID: 33648562; PMCID: PMC7919310.

Gentry-Maharaj A, Blyuss O, Ryan A, Burnell M, Karpinskyj C, Gunu R, Kalsi JK, Dawnay A, Marino IP, Manchanda R, Lu K, Yang WL, Timms JF, Parmar M, Skates SJ, Bast RC Jr, Jacobs IJ, Zaikin A, Menon U. Multi-Marker Longitudinal Algorithms Incorporating HE4 and CA125 in Ovarian Cancer Screening of Postmenopausal Women. Cancers 2020 July 17. DOI: 10.3390/cancers12071931. PMID: 32708856.

Rosenthal AN, Fraser LSM, Philpott S, Manchanda R, Burnell M, Badman P, Hadwin R, Rizzuto I, Benjamin E, Singh N, Evans DG, Eccles DM, Ryan A, Liston R, Dawnay A, Ford J, Gunu R, Mackay J, Skates SJ, Menon U*, Jacobs IJ*; United Kingdom Familial Ovarian Cancer Screening Study collaborators. Evidence of Stage Shift in Women Diagnosed With Ovarian Cancer During Phase II of the United Kingdom Familial Ovarian Cancer Screening Study. J Clin Oncol. 2017 May 1;35(13):1411-1420. doi: 10.1200/JCO.2016.69.9330. PMID: 28240969; PMCID: PMC5455461. *equal contribution.

Teschendorff AE, Menon U, Gentry-Maharaj A, Ramus SJ, Weisenberger DJ, Shen H, Campan M, Noushmehr H, Bell CG, Maxwell AP, Savage DA, Mueller-Holzner E, Marth C, Kocjan G, Gayther SA, Jones A, Beck S, Wagner W, Laird PW, Jacobs IJ, Widschwendter M. Age-dependent DNA methylation of genes that are suppressed in stem cells is a hallmark of cancer. Genome Res. 2010 Apr;20(4):440-6. doi: 10.1101/gr.103606.109. PMID: 20219944; PMCID: PMC2847747.

Research Interests

• Ovarian cancer risk prediction
• Early detection of ovarian cancer
• Management of women at increased risk of ovarian cancer
• Novel biomarkers for early detection of cancer

Research Areas

• Cancer