Dr David Skeggs.  


David Skeggs, cancer specialist and pioneer of modern radiation therapy, will be gratefully remembered by many successfully treated cancer patients, but his most important contribution to medicine was as the inventor of computer controlled precision radiation therapy which has been further developed by others to be the current international standard for safety and effectiveness. 

David Lyndon Bartholomew Skeggs was born in 1928, the son of Dr Basil Lyndon Skeggs. He was educated at Winchester College, then at Oriel College Oxford where he read medicine. In 1952 he qualified in medicine at St Bartholomew’s Hospital. One of his early hospital jobs was in obstetrics and gynaecology, where he worked very long hours and was on call two nights out of three for complicated deliveries. On his return from National Service in the Gulf he specialised in radiotherapy and, nine years later, he was appointed Director of Cancer Services at the Royal Free and Royal Northern Hospitals.

Until the early 1970s radiation treatment was typically given by directing beams of radiation to cancer deposits from a source outside the body. Although the beams could be shaped to some extent to deliver treatment to blocks of cancer of a complex shape, this lacked precision and it was often difficult to avoid excessive doses to normal tissues or inadequate doses to cancer deposits.  Skeggs had the idea that this could be improved by moving the patient relative to the beam and varying the dimensions of the beam with the movement so that a single treatment could conform to the shape of the cancer deposit with greatly improved precision. Only computer control was capable of delivering the sophistication of movements required but it had not been previously applied for this purpose. Working with physicists Jim Brace and Terry Davey a functioning system, known as conformational therapy, was produced at the Royal Free Hospital in the 1970s and shown to be practical for treating cancer of the cervix and medulloblastoma, a tumour of the brain and spinal cord in children. The principles that Skeggs established are at the core of the current state of the art techniques developed by others, which have led to benefits for many thousands of patients world-wide. Typical of these is intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) in which a technically advanced beam is moved relative to the patient and shaped and modulated for intensity under the control of a sophisticated computer system. 

He worked closely with the haematologist Professor H Grant Prentice at the Royal Free to develop radiation therapy in preparation of patients with leukaemia to receive bone marrow transplants from donors. These studies gave some early insights into the delicate balance which needs to be achieved within the immune system in its responses to the leukaemia and to normal tissues. Knowledge of this issue has grown rapidly and remains central to the success of leukaemia treatment. He was also a pioneer of the combination of chemotherapy and radiotherapy, and among the first to use the 3-D images of CT scanning for planning radiation therapy, having raised funds to install the first NHS CT scanner in London. After 22 years at the Royal Free, Skeggs left in 1988 after a period of ill health. When he recovered he became Director of Radiotherapy at the Cromwell Hospital where he built a highly successful department. His excellence in the techniques of radiation therapy was built on a profound knowledge of medicine and the pathology and clinical behaviour of cancer. He was meticulous and determined to help patients and their families 
 
In retirement he directed his energies to supporting the UCL Cancer Institute Research Trust (which was originally formed at the Royal Free) as a trustee and became its chairman in 2006. He led the charity in developing facilities and supporting staff in the new UCL Cancer Institute in Bloomsbury. New treatments for malignant lymphoma and bowel cancer have been developed as a result of the charity’s work and recent fundraising is supporting new programmes in the treatment of cancer of the cervix and in understanding and targeting cancer stem cells. Eternally youthful looking, he loved everything about life. He lived in Barnes where for 50 years he produced in an allotment all his own fruit and vegetables while, in his other home in West Sussex, he truly relished the countryside. Since childhood, he had a passion for trains and was thrilled in later life to qualify to drive a steam engine on the Polish system. 

He also found time for six years to be an active governor of the English Speaking Union, as well as a member of the board of visitors of HM Prison Ford where he fought valiantly, but unsuccessfully, for improvement. 

His own fight with cancer began 11 years ago when a malignant tumour was removed. A secondary deposit was found in his liver and removed at the Royal Free. He remained well for 10 years before relapsing. He is survived by his wife Anne and their two daughters.

David Skeggs, cancer specialist, was born on August 26, 1928. He died on December 22, 2010 aged 82