Brian D Nicholson
MRCGP BSc MSc (Health Res) DPhil
Associate Professor
- NHS General Practitioner
- NIHR Cancer Awareness Screening and Early Diagnosis Policy Research Unity - Co-Director
- CRUK Postdoctoral Fellow
- Affiliate Investigator - KPWHRI
Contact information
+44 (0)1865 289300
Diagnosis and Cancer in Primary Care
Brian's academic interests include cancer, global health, and evidence-based diagnosis.
His research aims to improve the diagnostic process for patients with symptoms of cancer. This work focusses on understanding symptoms, appropriate test use, and developing clinical pathways.
He leads the departmental Cancer Theme that conducts research in four main areas: health records data; implementation science; diagnostic reasoning; and clinical trials and prospective studies. He is Early Detection lead for the CRUK Oxford Cancer Centre investigating community-based multi-cancer testing. He is a member of the NIHR EME Committee and the CRUK EDD Committee.
He supervises DPhil and MSc students, medical students, postdocs, and Academic Clinical Fellows. He is a GP in Oxford City.
Research groups
Key publications
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A manifesto for improving cancer detection: four key considerations when implementing innovations across the interface of primary and secondary care
Journal article
Dowrick A. et al, (2024), The Lancet Oncology
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Multi-cancer early detection test in symptomatic patients referred for cancer investigation in England and Wales (SYMPLIFY): a large-scale, observational cohort study
Journal article
Nicholson BD. et al, (2023), The Lancet Oncology, 24, 733 - 743
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Prioritising primary care patients with unexpected weight loss for cancer investigation: Diagnostic accuracy study
Journal article
Nicholson BD. et al, (2020), The BMJ, 370
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Faecal immunochemical testing for adults with symptoms of colorectal cancer attending English primary care: a retrospective cohort study of 14 487 consecutive test requests
Journal article
Nicholson BD. et al, (2020), Alimentary Pharmacology and Therapeutics, 52, 1031 - 1041
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Evaluation of the diagnostic accuracy of two point-of-care tests for COVID-19 when used in symptomatic patients in community settings in the UK primary care COVID diagnostic accuracy platform trial (RAPTOR-C19)
Journal article
Nicholson BD. et al, (2023), PLoS ONE, 18
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Blood CEA levels for detecting recurrent colorectal cancer: A Diagnostic Test Accuracy Review.
Journal article
Nicholson BD. et al, (2015), Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews
Recent publications
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Cancer inequalities in the United Kingdom and the data used to measure them: a scoping review
Journal article
Underwood S. et al, (2025), The Lancet Regional Health - Europe, 52
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Characterising the volume and variation of multiple urgent suspected cancer referrals in England, April 2013-March 2018: a national cohort study.
Journal article
Roberts K. et al, (2025), BMJ Open, 15