Professor Rintoul is Reader in Thoracic Oncology in the Department of Oncology, University of Cambridge and Honorary Respiratory Physician, Royal Papworth Hospital.  He qualified in medicine from the Universities of St Andrews and Edinburgh and trained in respiratory medicine in London and Edinburgh. Dr Rintoul received his doctorate from the University of Edinburgh for research investigating mechanisms underlying resistance to chemotherapy in small cell lung cancer.

He was appointed consultant in respiratory medicine specialising in thoracic oncology at Royal Papworth Hospital in 2005 before taking up his current post in 2017.  Dr Rintoul is lead clinician for cancer at Royal Papworth Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and Director of the Papworth Trials Unit Collaboration.  He is currently co-lead for the Aerodigestive Programme of the Cambridge Cancer Centre. From 2021 he has been appointed Chair of the Clinical Advisory Group of the UK Lung Cancer Coalition.

Specialist Clinical Interests

Lung Cancer; Malignant Mesothelioma; Diagnostic bronchoscopy; Endobronchial and Endoscopic ultrasound.

Research Interests

Dr Rintoul’s research is focussed around clinical trials, translational research and tissue banking in malignant mesothelioma and the early detection of lung cancer.  He is Chief Investigator for several clinical translational studies examining various biomarkers in lung cancer including the LUCID study investigating exhaled volatile organic compounds for early detection of lung cancer.  In 2012 he founded MesobanK, the UK national bioresource for malignant mesothelioma (www.mesobank.com).  His work is funded by Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre, Cancer Research UK Cambridge Centre, the NIHR and the British Lung Foundation. 

Education and Training
  • FRCP - Royal College of Physicians - 2008
  • PhD - University of Edinburgh - 2001
  • MRCP - Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh - 1995
  • MB ChB - University of Edinburgh - 1992
  • BSc (Hons) - University of St Andrews - 1989
Current membership(s) of professional, national and regional bodies and university posts
  • Fellow of Royal College of Physicians 
  • General Medical Council Reg No. 3658334
  • Member of NHS England Lung Cancer Clinical Expert Group
  • Member of British Thoracic Oncology Group
  • Member of the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer
Selected Recent Publications

Rintoul RC, Atherton R, Tweed K, Yates S, Chilvers ER. Exposure of patients to ionising radiation during lung cancer diagnostic work-up. Thorax. 2017 Sep;72(9):853-855. doi: 10.1136/thoraxjnl-2016-209641. Epub 2017 Apr 25.
  
Correia LL, Johnson JA, McErlean P, Bauer J, Farah H, Rassl DM, Rintoul RC, Sethi T, Lavender P, Rawlins EL, Littlewood TD, Evan GI, McCaughan FM. SOX2 Drives Bronchial Dysplasia in a Novel Organotypic Model of Early Human Squamous Lung Cancer. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2017 Feb 15. doi: 10.1164/rccm.201510-2084OC. [Epub ahead of print]

Kuijvenhoven JC, Korevaar DA, Tournoy KG, Malfait TL, Dooms C, Rintoul RC, Annema JT. Five-Year Survival After Endosonography vs Mediastinoscopy for Mediastinal Nodal Staging of Lung Cancer. JAMA. 2016 Sep 13;316(10):1110-2. doi: 10.1001 /jama.2016.10349.

Field JK, Duffy SW, Baldwin DR, Whynes DK, Devaraj A, Brain KE, Eisen T, Gosney J, Green BA, Holemans JA, Kavanagh T, Kerr KM, Ledson M, Lifford KJ, McRonald FE, Nair A, Page RD, Parmar MK, Rassl DM, Rintoul RC, Screaton NJ, Wald NJ, Weller D, Williamson PR, Yadegarfar G, Hansell DM. UK Lung Cancer RCT Pilot Screening Trial: baseline findings from the screening arm provide evidence for the potential implementation of lung cancer screening. Thorax. 2016 Feb;71(2):161-70. doi: 10.1136/thoraxjnl-2015-207140. Epub 2015 Dec 8

Rintoul RC, Treasure T, Macbeth F. Multimodal treatment for malignant pleural mesothelioma. Lancet Oncol. 2015 Dec;16(16):1576-7. doi: 10.1016/S1470-2045(15)00253-3. Epub 2015 Nov 2. No abstract available

Vaysse C, Philippe C, Martineau Y, Quelen C, Hieblot C, Renaud C, Nicaise Y, Desquesnes A, Pannese M, Filleron T, Escourrou G, Lawson M, Rintoul RC, Delisle MB, Pyronnet S, Brousset P, Prats H, Touriol C. Key contribution of eIF4H-mediated translational control in tumor promotion. Oncotarget. 2015 Nov 24;6(37):39924-40. doi: 10.18632/oncotarget.5442.

Rintoul RC, Rassl DM, Gittins J, Marciniak SJ; MesobanK collaborators. MesobanK UK: an international mesothelioma bioresource. Thorax. 2016 Apr;71(4):380-2. doi: 10.1136/thoraxjnl-2015-207496. Epub 2015 Oct 14.

Treasure T, Rintoul RC, Macbeth F. SABR in early operable lung cancer: time for evidence. Lancet Oncol. 2015 Jun;16(6):597-8. doi: 10.1016/S1470-2045(15)70225-1. Epub 2015 May 13

Walter FM, Rubin G, Bankhead C, Morris HC, Hall N, Mills K, Dobson C, Rintoul RC, Hamilton W, Emery J. Symptoms and other factors associated with time to diagnosis and stage of lung cancer: a prospective cohort study.  Br J Cancer. 2015 Mar 31;112 Suppl 1:S6-13. doi: 10.1038/bjc.2015.30

de Bruin EC, McGranahan N, Mitter R, Salm M, Wedge DC, Yates L, Jamal-Hanjani M, Shafi S, Murugaesu N, Rowan AJ, Grönroos E, Muhammad MA, Horswell S, Gerlinger M, Varela I, Jones D, Marshall J, Voet T, Van Loo P, Rassl DM, Rintoul RC, Janes SM, Lee SM, Forster M, Ahmad T, Lawrence D, Falzon M, Capitanio A, Harkins TT, Lee CC, Tom W, Teefe E, Chen SC, Begum S, Rabinowitz A, Phillimore B, Spencer-Dene B, Stamp G, Szallasi Z, Matthews N, Stewart A, Campbell P, Swanton C. Spatial and temporal diversity in genomic instability processes defines lung cancer evolution. Science. 2014 Oct 10;346(6206):251-6. doi: 10.1126/science.1253462.

Rintoul RC, Ahmed R, Dougherty B, Carroll NR Linear Endobronchial Ultrasonography: a novelty turned necessity for mediastinal nodal assessment. Thorax. 2015 Feb;70(2):175-80. doi: 10.1136/thoraxjnl-2014-205635. Epub 2014 Sep 21.

Rintoul RC, Ritchie AJ, Edwards JG, Waller DA, Coonar AS, Bennett M, Lovato E, Hughes V, Fox-Rushby JA, Sharples LD; MesoVATS collaborators. Efficacy and cost of video-assisted thoracoscopic partial pleurectomy versus talc pleurodesis in patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma (MesoVATS): an open-label, randomised controlled trial. Lancet. 2014 Jun 14. pii: S0140-6736(14)60418-9. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(14)60418-9. [Epub ahead of print]

Sarvi S, Mackinnon AC, Avlonitis N, Bradley M, Rintoul RC, Rassl DM, Wang W, Forbes SJ, Gregory CD, Sethi T. CD133+ cancer stem-like cells in small cell lung cancer are highly tumorigenic and chemoresistant but sensitive to a novel neuropeptide antagonist. Cancer Res. 2014 Mar 1;74(5):1554-65. doi: 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-13-1541. Epub 2014 Jan 16.

Rintoul RC, Glover MJ, Jackson C, Hughes V, Tournoy KG, Dooms C, Annema JT, Sharples LD. Cost effectiveness of endosonography versus surgical staging in potentially resectable lung cancer: a health economics analysis of the ASTER trial from a European perspective. Thorax. 2013 Sep 24. doi: 10.1136/thoraxjnl-2013-204374. 

Sharples LD, Jackson C, Wheaton E, Griffith G, Annema JT, Dooms C, Tournoy KG, Deschepper E, Hughes V, Magee L, Buxton M, Rintoul RC. Clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of endobronchial and endoscopic ultrasound relative to surgical staging in potentially resectable lung cancer: results from the ASTER randomised controlled trial. Health Technol Assess. 2012;16(18):1-75, iii-iv.