Clinical & Translational Research > Head and Neck Cancer > Dr Tim Helliwell

Dr Helliwell is a Consultant Histopathologist at the Royal Liverpool University Hospital and at University Hospital Aintree. He is the lead pathologist for orthopaedic, muscle, head and neck and endocrine pathology, participating in relevant interpretative EQA Schemes in each area. He has over 25 years experience as a Consultant Histopathologist in orthopaedic and head and neck pathology with publications on a range of research topics. He has lead the development of consensus guidelines for the recognition and reporting of laryngeal dysplasia. Current activities include the identification of key molecular markers of important cellular pathways in head and neck cancers (proliferation, angiogenesis, apoptosis) with the aim of creating a prognostic

molecular profile for these cancers. Similar work in soft tissue sarcomas focuses on biomarkers in relation to hypoxia and telomerase activity. Dr Helliwell is the academic lead for pathology teaching on the undergraduate medical and dental courses, contributing to the delivery of PBL tutorials and supporting lectures. He is actively promoting the use of virtual digital microscopy for supporting the learning of normal histology and basic pathological processes at undergraduate and postgraduate level. He has contributed substantially to the debate on delivering a high quality histopathology service through commissioning and writing national guidance on a wide range of issues on behalf of the Royal College of Pathologists. He is the Designated Individual (under the Human Tissue Act) for research in the University and has actively contributed to the development of a new research governance structure. He also sits on the University Ethics Committee for Stem Cell Research.

Chair of Pathology Cancer Network Group for Merseyside and Cheshire Cancer Network (2003-7).

Lead author for National Guidelines for Histopathology reports on Head and Neck Cancers on behalf of the Royal College of Pathologists (1998-to date).

Chair of Royal College of Pathologists Cancer Services Working Group (2005-2009) – responsible for commissioning and publishing a series of documents that describe how to provide a high quality clinical service.

Member of Specialty Advisory Committee for Histopathology (Royal College of Pathologists) and author of College guidance documents on best practice and quality services.

Royal College of Pathologists Sub-specialty Adviser for ENT Pathology (2008-to date).

National Cancer Intelligence Network, Head and Neck Cancer group member and lead pathologist for clinical reference groups (2009-to date).

Member of head and neck working group for the European Society of Pathology.

Total peer reviewed publications - 112, number of first author publications – 35.

Jones AS, Taktak AGF, Helliwell TR, Fenton JE, Birchall MA, Husband DJ, Fisher AC. Prediction of survival in patients with laryngeal squamous carcinoma by an artificial neural network: a randomised comparison with Cox’s proportional hazards model. European Archives of Otorhinolaryngology 2006 63, 541-547

Prasad KRS, Jones, AS, Birchall M, Krajacevic J, Helliwell TR. Immunocytochemical analysis of malignant melanoma of the nasal cavity and sinuses using tissue microarray. Histopathology 2006 35, 579-589.

Cai, XJ, Valiyaparambath N, Nixon P, Waghorn A, Giles TE, Helliwell TR. Ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration cytology in the diagnosis and management of thyroid nodules. Cytopathology 2006 17, 251-256.

Helliwell TR. The recognition and roles of specialist cellular pathologists. Royal College of Pathologists. June 2006. http://www.rcpath.org/resources/pdf/G004-SpecialistCellularPathologists-Jun06.pdf .

Rafferty M, Walker C, Husband D, Helliwell T, Fenton J, Jones A. Retinoblastoma gene abnormalities in early laryngeal cancer. European Archives of Otorhinolaryngology 2008; 265(suppl. 1), 83-87.

Rafferty M, Helliwell TR, Husband DJ, Fenton J, Jones TM, Jones AS. Expression of cell cycle associated proteins influences radio-curability of T2N0 squamous cell carcinoma of the larynx. Oral Oncology 2008; 44, 975-981.

Jones AS, Tandon S, Jones TM, Helliwell TR. Survival of patients with a neck recurrence following radical neck dissection: is a second neck dissection worthwhile? Head Neck 2008, 30, 1514-1522.

Helliwell TR, Gallagher J, Ranganath L. Alkaptonuria – a review of surgical and autopsy pathology. Histopathology 2008; 53, 503-512.

Smith J, Rattay T, McConkey C, Helliwell T, Mehanna H. Biomarkers in dysplasia of the oral cavity. A systematic review. Oral Oncology 2009, 45, 647-653.

Helliwell T. Invited commentary: The way forward for rapid FNAC services in the UK. Cytopathology 2009; 20, 79-80.

Helliwell TR, Kilpatrick E, Galloway M, Dance D. A major challenge: developing HRGs for pathology. Bulletin of the Royal College of Pathologists 2007; 137, 8-10.

Allen D, Helliwell TR. Tissue pathways – why bother? Bulletin of the Royal College of Pathologists 2008; 144, 250-251.

Helliwell TR, Allen D. Quality assurance in histopathology and cytopathology reporting practice. Royal College of Pathologists. February 2009. http://www.rcpath.org/resources/pdf/g082_qahistoreporting_feb09.pdf .

Hughes DE, Helliwell TR. The role of the lead histopathologist in the multidisciplinary team. Royal College of Pathologists (August 2009) http://www.rcpath.org/resources/pdf/g087leadpathinmdtaug09.pdf .

Helliwell TR, Lawrence G. Cancer pathology datasets; once and for all. Bulletin of the Royal College of Pathologists. October 2009, 148, 283-285.

Helliwell TR. Code of Practice for Cellular Pathology. Royal College of Pathologists (Jan 2010) http://www.rcpath.org/resources/pdf/g030codeofpracticehisto2009_jan10.pdf

Tel: 0151 706 4492

Email: Trh@liverpool.ac.uk