Date of birth: 18/12/1934

Date of death: 04/02/2002

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BIOGRAPHY

Tom Connors was a British chemist and pharmacologist who graduated in physiology from University College London in 1957, and gained an organic chemistry PhD in alkylating agents from the Chester Beatty Research Institute (subsequently the Institute of Cancer Research (ICR), London), in 1960.

At Chester Beatty/ICR, Connors was in charge of sifting through platinum derivatives to find suitable candidates for human use, stimulated by Barnett Rosenberg’s discovery in the US that a number of platinum-containing chemicals killed bacteria and cancer cells. But it was unclear which would prove suitable for human use. Connors was responsible for identifying cisplatin, with his work resulting in the first clinical trials run by Eve Wiltshaw at the Royal Marsden. Later, Connors conducted studies into cisplatin’s mechanism of action, leading to the development of carboplatin, a derivative with good anti-cancer activity but fewer side-effects.

From 1976 until retirement in 1991, Connors was director of the MRC Toxicology Unit at Carshalton, London. His other projects included contributing to studies of oxazaphosphorine metabolism that identified the importance of cytochrome P450-mediated activation pathways to anti-tumour activity, and pioneering antibody and gene-directed enzyme prodrug therapy.

To address barriers to getting promising candidates from preclinical studies into phase I and II trials, in 1980 Connors was instrumental in setting up the Cancer Research UK (formerly Cancer Research Campaign) Phase I/II Clinical Trials Committee, which gained a reputation for fast-tracking compounds into the clinic, and developed agents such as temozolomide and 4-ydroxyandrostenedione.

Connors was an active member of the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC), serving on the board from 1991 to 1996, and in 1993 was elected chairman of the laboratory research division. He also was the only non-American to serve on US President Gerald Ford’s advisory committee.

Outside work Connors’ big hobby was rugby football.

See also this obituary of Connors and another here, and this appreciation of his contributions.