About Jo’s friends and Advisers

Cancer of Unknown Primary (CUP) Foundation – Jo’s friends became a registered  charity (1119380) in May 2007. The formal charity was dissolved in June 2024 but CUP Foundation – Jo’s friends continues as an unincorporated body as a resource for the CUP community of patients, carers, oncologists and researchers, and for those who want to know more about the CUP phenomenon. Note: we do not offer medical advice. If you have any medical queries you should direct them at a qualified medical practitioner.

Donations. As we are no longer a registered charity we do not accept donations but we would encourage donors to support the CUP Foundation – Jo’s friends account with The Christie Charity:

• with a one-off donation on line  or
• by  standing order form or
• by direct debit or  
• by cheque. Any cheques should be made out to The Christie Charity  – CUP A01070  and sent to The Christie Charity, Wilmslow Road, Manchester, M20 4BX. Donors will receive a letter of acknowledgement of the amount received recognising that the donation is supporting CUP research.

Note: for one off donations on-line, if there is no specific ‘drop down’ for CUP, then include CUP A01070 in any remarks. (The standing order and direct debit mandates are specifically drafted for CUP.)

Challenge or Memorial events. If you are looking to undertake a challenge event for CUP, or to set up a memorial page, then please do it through the Christie Charity specifying that it is for CUP research. 

The Christie Hospital in Manchester is the largest single site cancer centre in Europe, with the UK’s leading edge CUP research group under the direction of Dr Natalie Cook. Although the CUP Foundation charity money now sits in a ring fenced charity account (for CUP research and patient facing work/educational events),  donated money is not exclusively for The Christie. Other UK oncologists and researchers may apply for grants for CUP research.

Advisory Board

Dr Natalie Cook MBChB, MRCP, PhD is a Senior Clinical Lecturer in Experimental Cancer Medicine and Honorary Consultant in Medical Oncology at the University of Manchester and the Christie NHS Foundation Trust.  She is the medical lead for the Experimental Cancer Medicine Team at the Christie, delivering early phase oncology trials to patients, and a Principal Investigator on the international CUP trial CUPISCO (as well as being  co-investigator or principal investigator on a portfolio of over 70 trials). She has a research interest in liquid biomarkers in CUP.

Dr F. Anthony Greco MD is Director of the Sarah Cannon Cancer Center located in Nashville, USA. Dr. Greco’s principal professional interest has been clinical cancer research and he now specialises in cancers of unknown primary origin, lung cancer and germ cell tumors. He has helped to define the complex group of patients with unknown primary cancer recognizing many subsets of patients requiring specific therapy. He has developed, or helped develop, new and improved therapies for patients with several types of neoplastic diseases, including unknown primary cancer.

Dr Sarah Ngan BMedSci MBBS PhD MRCP is a consultant in Medical Oncology working at Guys and St Thomas’ Hospital (GSTT) in London specialising in caring for patients with upper gastro-intestinal cancers, Cancer of Unknown Primary (CUP) and acute oncology.  She was appointed as consultant in medical oncology at Guys and St Thomas’s (GSTT) Hospital in 2012, and prior to this was working at the Royal Marsden Hospital, London. Dr Ngan is presently the clinical lead for acute oncology and CUP at GSTT along with network CUP lead for the London Cancer Alliance. She chairs a specialist MDM at GSTT for patients with CUP which is video-linked to units across SE London and is passionate about improving the patient pathway for CUP patients.

Professor Penelope Schofield BSc (Hons) PhD MAPS. As professor of Health Psychology, Swinburne University, and Research Fellow, Department of Cancer Experiences Research, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Penny has led a number of CUP projects and has been a significant contributor to the Australian collaborative CUP cohort study: ‘SUPER’.

Dr Harpreet S. Wasan MD MBBS PhD FRCP is Consultant and Reader in Medical Oncology, Department of Cancer Medicine, Imperial College NHS Trust. He is the Chief Investigator for ‘CUPEM’ investigating the potential benefits of immunotherapy treatment for CUP patients. Previously Chief Investigator for ‘CUP-One’, which started in 2010.  Dr Wasan is on the UK National Cancer Research Institute Steering Committee for both advanced colorectal cancer and upper gastrointestinal groups, the Chair of the West London Cancer Network, and oncology advisor to the UK Drugs and Therapeutics Bulletin.

EMERITUS MEMBERS

Dr Richard J. Osborne MD FRCP FRACP. Formerly consultant in Medical Oncology Hervey Bay Hospital, Queensland until December 2019 and before that at the Dorset Cancer Centre. He was the Lead Clinician for the development of the NICE Guideline for CUP. During his career Dr Osborne was awarded an ICRF Clinical Research Fellowship, NCI-EORTC Research Fellowship and a Fulbright Senior Scholarship.

Dr Maurice L. Slevin MD FRCP.  Founding Director of The London Oncology Clinic (now Leaders in Oncology Care) and Consultant Medical Oncologist at St Bartholomew’s Hospital. Dr Slevin is the author or co-author of a number of books and chapters in books; and some 200 papers in medical journals. In 1985 he joined Vicky Clement Jones in setting up the information and support charity, Cancerbackup.

Our History

CUP Foundation – Jo’s friends was established in memory of Jo Symons who died with CUP in September 2006 a few days after her 46th birthday. Jo, a graphic designer, was diagnosed with cancer, and the primary site could not be identified. Different tests produced different ideas. The initial suggestion, following the biopsy of a secondary tumour, was of Ovarian cancer. This was discounted and Jo was treated initially for Breast and then Pancreatic cancer. Jo endured 3 different chemotherapy regimens over 8 months before she died. Her primary remains ‘unknown’. (For further background see CNN report.)

To her family and friends it seemed incomprehensible that, in the 21st century, it was not possible to make a diagnosis and that little was being done to promote awareness and research; or to offer information and support to CUP patients and carers. Jo’s family and friends decided to establish a charity with the mission to ‘Make the Unknown, Known’ by:

• Providing information and support to CUP patients and those who care for them
• Raising awareness of CUP
• Promoting improved diagnosis and treatment
• Undertaking, encouraging and supporting CUP research with the ultimate goal of seeing the end of CUP

The reasons for dissolving the Charity in 2024 are explained in our final annual report and accounts to the Charity Commission.

The photo above shows the trustees in 2023. Front L to R: Kate Fulton, Rosemary Bates, Philippa McEwan. Back L to R: Barry Hamilton, Jill Foulds (Volunteer Admin and Conference Manager), and John Symons.

The photo below shows John Symons, the Director (left), Dr Natalie Cook and Chairman Barry Hamilton (right) outside the Christie Hospital.