Staff Profile

I am an MRC Clinician Scientist and Honorary Consultant Paediatric Oncologist, providing a clinical service for young people with lymphoma or Langerhans cell histiocytosis at the Great North Children's Hospital, Newcastle. 

Qualifications

2015 CCT Paediatrics (Paediatric Oncology)

2013 PhD, Newcastle University

2005 Membership of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, UK

2002 MBBS (Hons), Newcastle University

1999 BMedSci (Hons), Newcastle University 

Memberships

Children's Cancer & Leukaemia Group (CCLG) NHL Interest Group Chair

European Hematology Association Pediatric Scientific Working Group

European Intergroup Collaboration for Childhood Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma (EICNHL)/SIOPE

International BFM Study Group

NCRI Children's NHL subgroup

NCRI Lymphoma Science subgroup

Honours and Awards

2014   Lindau Nobel Laureate meeting alumnus, Royal Society nominee

2002   Mona McNaughton Prize - MBBS (Hons) final examination results 2002

1998   Wolfson Scholar - BMedSci (Hons)

Research Interests

Together with Dr Chris Bacon I run the Lymphoma Research Group within the Wolfson Childhood Cancer Research Centre and collaborate closely with Prof Vikki Rand at the National Horizon's Centre, Teesside University. Our aim is to deeply characterise paediatric B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma to provide a comprehensive understanding of disease initiation and evolution in response to therapy. My particular interests include understanding the molecular drivers of therapy resistance and the role that clonal evolution has to play in this clinically important phenomenon. Using sporadic Burkitt lymphoma as our principle disease, we are studying the genetic, transcriptomic and clonal changes which occur in response to therapeutic pressure within patient-derived xenograft models. Through understanding the drivers of clonal evolution we want to be able to predict patients more likely to develop therapy resistance and develop treatment strategies to target key resistance mechanisms.

Funding - Current Projects 

MRC Clinician Scientist Fellowship - Clonal heterogeneity and therapy resistance in Burkitt lymphoma

The Little Princess Trust

Children's Cancer North

The Good Will Cause

Funding - Training

Sir Bobby Robson Foundation Clinical Fellow

ACF/ACL posts funded by NIHR

MRC Centenary Early Career Award

MRC Clinical Research Training Fellowship

I supervise undergraduate, masters and PhD students within the Wolfson Childhood Cancer Research Centre, as well as providing clinical teaching for medical students within the Great North Children's Hospital. I lecture on Cancer Stem Cells, Heterogeneity and Evolution within the Biomedical Sciences undergraduate degree programme.

I have contributed a chapter on clinical research to the recently published MRCPCH Science of Paediatrics Mastercourse book for candidates of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health membership exam. I have also written chapters on childhood lymphoma and tumour lysis syndrome for the second edition of the Oxford University Handbook of Paediatric Haematology and Oncology.

• Articles

  • Tirtakusuma R, Milne P, Blair HJ, Shi Y, Bomken S, Heidenreich O. Fusion transcripts are present in early progenitor cells in KMT2A-rearranged B-ALL. Leukemia 2024, epub ahead of print.
  • Meyer C, Larghero P, Almeida Lopes B, Burmeister T, Gröger D, Sutton R, Venn NC, Cazzaniga G, Corral Abascal L, Tsaur G, Fechina L, Emerenciano M, Pombo-de-Oliveira MS, Lund-Aho T, Lundán T, Montonen M, Juvonen V, Zuna J, Trka J, Ballerini P, Lapillonne H, Van der Velden VHJ, Sonneveld E, Delabesse E, de Matos RRC, Silva MLM, Bomken S, Katsibardi K, Keernik M, Grardel N, Mason J, Price R, Kim J, Eckert C, Lo Nigro L, Bueno C, Menendez P, Zur Stadt U, Gameiro P, Sedék L, Szczepanski T, Bidet A, Marcu V, Shichrur K, Izraeli S, Madsen HO, Schäfer BW, Kubetzko S, Kim R, Clappier E, Trautmann H, Brüggemann M, Archer P, Hancock J, Alten J, Möricke A, Stanulla M, Lentes J, Bergmann AK, Strehl S, Köhrer S, Nebral K, Dworzak MN, Haas OA, Arfeuille C, Caye-Eude A, Cavé H, Marschalek R. The KMT2A recombinome of acute leukemias in 2023. Leukemia 2023, 37(5), 988-1005.
  • Offor UT, Hollis P, Ognjanovic M, Parry G, Khushnood A, Long HM, Gennery AR, Bacon CM, Simmonds J, Reinhardt Z, Bomken S. Immunology of THymectomy And childhood CArdiac transplant (ITHACA): protocol for a UK-wide prospective observational cohort study to identify immunological risk factors of post-transplant lymphoproliferative disease (PTLD) in thymectomised children. BMJ Open 2023, 13(10), e079582.
  • Alexander S, Aupérin A, Bomken S, Csóka M, Kazanowska B, Chiang AK, Andres M, Uyttebroeck A, Burke A, Zsiros J, Pillon M, Bollard CM, Mussolin L, Verdu-Amoros J, Neven B, Barkauskas DA, Wheatley K, Patte C, Gross TG, Minard-Colin V. Effect of rituximab on immune status in children with mature B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma: a prespecified secondary analysis of the Inter-B-NHL Ritux 2010 trial. The Lancet Haematology 2023, 10(6), E445-E457.
  • Vogiatzi F, Heymann J, Müller K, Winterberg D, Drakul A, Rösner T, Lenk L, Heib M, Gehlert CL, Cario G, Schrappe M, Claviez A, Bornhauser B, Bourquin JP, Bomken S, Adam D, Frielitz FS, Maecker-Kolhoff B, Stanulla M, Valerius T, Peipp M, Kellner C, Schewe DM. Venetoclax enhances the efficacy of therapeutic antibodies in B-cell malignancies by augmenting tumor cell phagocytosis. Blood Advances 2022, 6(16), 4847–4858.
  • Khabirova E, Jardine L, Coorens THH, Webb S, Treger TD, Engelbert J, Porter T, Prigmore E, Collord G, Piapi A, Teichmann SA, Inglott S, Williams O, Heidenreich O, Young MD, Straathof K, Bomken S, Bartram J, Haniffa M, Behjati S. Single-cell transcriptomics reveals a distinct developmental state of KMT2A-rearranged infant B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Nature Medicine 2022, 28, 743-751.
  • Bomken S, Enshaei A, Schwalbe EC, Mikulasova A, Dai Y, Zaka M, Fung K, Bashton M, Lim H, Jones L, Karataraki N, Winterman E, Ashby C, Attarbaschi A, Bertrand Y, Bradtke J, Buldini B, Burke GA, Cazzaniga G, Gohring G, de Groot-Kruseman H, Haferlach C, Lo Nigro L, Parihar M, Plesa A, Seaford E, Sonneveld E, Strehl S, van der Velden V, Rand V, Hunger SP, Harrison CJ, Bacon C, van Delft F, Loh M, Moppett J, Vormoor J, Walker B, Moorman AV, Russell L. Molecular characterisation and clinical outcome of B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukaemia with IG-MYC rearrangement. Haematologica 2022, epub ahead of pub.
  • Newman AM, Zaka M, Zhou P, Blain AE, Erhorn A, Barnard A, Crossland RE, Wilkinson S, Enshaei A, De Zordi J, Harding F, Taj M, Wood KM, Televantou D, Turner SD, Burke GAA, Harrison CJ, Bomken S, Bacon CM, Rand V. Genomic abnormalities of TP53 define distinct risk groups of paediatric B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Leukemia 2022, 36(3), 781-789.
  • Tirtakusuma R, Szoltysek K, Milne P, Grinev VV, Ptasinska A, Chin PS, Meyer C, Nakjang S, Hehir-Kwa JY, Williamson D, Cauchy P, Keane P, Assi SA, Ashtiani M, Kellaway SG, Imperato MR, Vogiatzi F, Schweighart EK, Lin S, Wunderlich M, Stutterheim J, Komkov A, Zerkalenkova E, Evans P, McNeill H, Elder A, Martinez-Soria N, Fordham SE, Shi Y, Russell LJ, Pal D, Smith A, Kingsbury Z, Becq J, Eckert C, Haas OA, Carey P, Bailey S, Skinner R, Miakova N, Collin M, Bigley V, Haniffa M, Marschalek R, Harrison CJ, Cargo CA, Schewe D, Olshanskaya Y, Thirman MJ, Cockerill PN, Mulloy JC, Blair HJ, Vormoor J, Allan JM, Bonifer C, Heidenreich O, Bomken S. Epigenetic regulator genes direct lineage switching in MLL/AF4 leukemia. Blood 2022, 140(17), 1875-1890.
  • Offor UT, Bacon CM, Roberts J, Powell J, Brodlie M, Wood K, Windebank KP, Flett J, Hewitt T, Rand V, Hasan A, Parry G, Gennery AR, Reinhardt Z, Bomken S. Transplantation For Congenital Heart Disease Is Associated With An Increased Risk Of Epstein-Barr Virus-Related Post-Transplant Lymphoproliferative Disorder In Children. Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation 2020, 35(5), 24-32.
  • Prunotto G, Offor UT, Samarasinghe S, Wynn R, Vora A, Carpenter B, Gowdy C, McHugh K, Windebank KP, Rovelli AM, Slatter MA, Gennery AR, Veys P, Bacon CM, Bomken S, Lucchini G. HSCT provides effective treatment for lymphoproliferative disorders in children with primary immunodeficiency. Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology 2020, 146(2), 447-450.
  • Zhou P, Blain AE, Newman AM, Zaka M, Chagaluka G, Adlar F, Offor UT, Broadbent C, Chaytor L, Whitehead A, Hall A, O'Connor H, Van Noorden S, Lampert I, Bailey S, Molyneux E, Bacon CM, Bomken S, Rand V. Sporadic and endemic Burkitt lymphoma have frequent FOXO1 mutations but distinct hotspots in the AKT recognition motif. Blood Advances 2019, 3(14), 2118-2127.
  • Pearson ADJ, Scobie N, Norga K, Ligas F, Chiodin D, Burke A, Minard-Colin V, Adamson P, Marshall LV, Balakumaran A, Benettaib B, Bhargava P, Bollard CM, Bolotin E, Bomken S, Buechner J, Burkhardt B, Caron H, Copland C, Demolis P, Egorov A, Farhan M, Zugmaier G, Gross T, Horton-Taylor D, Klapper W, Lesa G, Marcus R, Miles RR, Nottage K, Pacaud L, Ricafort R, Schrappe M, Sterba J, Vezan R, Weiner S, Kim SY, Reaman G, Vassal G. ACCELERATE and European Medicine Agency Paediatric Strategy Forum for medicinal product development for mature B-cell malignancies in children. European Journal of Cancer 2019, 110, 74-85.
  • Noble RA, Bell N, Blair H, Sikka A, Thomas H, Phillips N, Nakjang S, Miwa S, Crossland R, Rand V, Televantou D, Long A, Keun HC, Bacon CM, Bomken S, Critchlow SE, Wedge SR. Inhibition of monocarboxyate transporter 1 by AZD3965 as a novel therapeutic approach for diffuse large B-cell lymphoma and burkitt lymphoma. Haematologica 2017, 102(7), 1247-1257.
  • Milne P, Bigley V, Bacon CM, Néel A, McGovern N, Bomken S, Haniffa M, Diamond EL, Durham BH, Visser J, Hunt D, Gunawardena H, Macheta M, McClain KL, Allen C, Abdel-Wahab O, Collin M. Hematopoietic origin of Langerhans cell histiocytosis and Erdheim Chester disease in adults. Blood 2017, 130(2), 167-175.
  • Elder A, Bomken S, Wilson I, Blair HJ, Cockell S, Ponthan F, Dormon K, Pal D, Heidenreich O, Vormoor J. Abundant and equipotent founder cells establish and maintain acute lymphoblastic leukaemia. Leukemia 2017, 31, 2577-2586.
  • Attarbaschi A, Carraro E, Abla O, Barzilai-Birenboim S, Bomken S, Brugieres L, Bubanska E, Burkhardt B, Chiang AK, Csoka M, Fedorova A, Jazbec J, Kabickova E, Krenova Z, Lazic J, Loeffen J, Mann G, Niggli F, Miakova N, Osumi T, Ronceray L, Uyttebroeck A, Williams D, Woessmann W, Wrobel G, Pillon M. Non-Hodgkin lymphoma and pre-existing conditions: spectrum, clinical characteristics and outcome in 213 children and adolescents. Haematologica 2016, 101(12), 1581-1591.
  • Mellgren K, Attarbaschi A, Abla O, Alexander S, Bomken S, Bubanska E, Chiang A, Csóka M, Fedorova A, Kabickova E, Kapuscinska-Kemblowska L, Kobayashi R, Krenova Z, Meyer-Wentrup F, Miakova N, Pillon M, Plat G, Uyttebroeck A, Williams D, Wróbel G, Kontny U. Non-anaplastic peripheral T cell lymphoma in children and adolescents-an international review of 143 cases. Annals of Hematology 2016, 95(8), 1295-1305.
  • Scherr M, Elder A, Battmer K, Barzan D, Bomken S, Ricke-Hoch M, Schröder A, Venturini L, Blair HJ, Vormoor J, Ottmann O, Ganser A, Pich A, Hilfiker-Kleiner D, Heidenreich O, Eder M. Differential expression of miR-17~92 identifies BCL2 as a therapeutic target in BCR-ABL-positive B-lineage acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Leukemia 2014, 28, 554-565.
  • Bomken S, Buechler L, Rehe K, Ponthan F, Elder A, Blair H, Bacon CM, Vormoor J, Heidenreich O. Lentiviral marking of patient-derived acute lymphoblastic leukaemic cells allows in vivo tracking of disease progression. Leukemia 2013, 27(3), 718-721.
  • Rehe K, Wilson K, Bomken S, Williamson D, Irving J, den Boer ML, Stanulla M, Schrappe M, Hall AG, Heidenreich O, Vormoor J. Acute B lymphoblastic leukaemia-propagating cells are present at high frequency in diverse lymphoblast populations. EMBO Molecular Medicine 2013, 5(1), 38-51.
  • le Viseur C, Hotfilder M, Bomken S, Wilson K, Röttgers S, Schrauder A, Rosemann A, Irving JAE, Stam R, Shultz L, Harbott J, Jürgens H, Schrappe M, Pieters R, Vormoor HJ. In Childhood Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia, Blasts at Different Stages of Immunophenotypic Maturation Have Stem Cell Properties. Cancer Cell 2008, 14(1), 47-58.

• Conference Proceedings (inc. Abstract)

  • Offor UT, Long HM, Filby A, Ognjanovic M, Simmonds J, Parry G, Khushnood A, Reinhardt Z, Gennery AR, Bacon CM, Bomken S. Defining the systemic immune landscape in children at an increased risk of posttransplant lymphoproliferative disease: The immunology of thymectomy and childhood cardiac transplant (ITHACA) study. In: 7th International Symposium on Childhood, Adolescent and Young Adult Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma. 2022, New York, NY, USA: Leukemia Research.

• Reviews

  • Pastorczak A, Attarbaschi A, Bomken S, Borkhardt A, van der Werff ten Bosch J, Elitzur S, Gennery AR, Hlavackova E, Kerekes A, Krenova Z, Mlynarski W, Szczepanski T, Wassenberg T, Loeffen J. Consensus Recommendations for the Clinical Management of Hematological Malignancies in Patients with DNA Double Stranded Break Disorders. Cancers 2022, 14(8), 2000.
  • Bomken S, van der Werff Ten Bosch J, Attarbaschi A, Bacon CM, Borkhardt A, Boztug K, Fischer U, Hauck F, Kuiper RP, Lammens T, Loeffen J, Neven B, Pan-Hammarstrom Q, Quinti I, Seidel MG, Warnatz K, Wehr C, Lankester AC, Gennery AR. Current Understanding and Future Research Priorities in Malignancy Associated With Inborn Errors of Immunity and DNA Repair Disorders: The Perspective of an Interdisciplinary Working Group. Frontiers in Immunology 2018, 9, 2912.
  • Bomken S, Fiser K, Heidenreich O, Vormoor J. Understanding the cancer stem cell. British Journal of Cancer 2010, 103(4), 439-445.