Professor Sandra O'Toole
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Professor Sandra O'Toole

Professor
School of Medical Sciences
Faculty of Medicine and Health
Phone
95157182
Fax
951558405

After graduating from Medicine from UNSW with the University Medal in 1997 and finishing my specialist training as a pathologist in 2003, I spent 2 years as a postdoctoral fellow at Johns Hopkins Hospital, completing my PhD in 2008 at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research. I currently divide my time between Royal Prince Alfred Hospital (as Staff Specialist in the Department of Tissue Pathology and Diagnostic Oncology, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital and Head of Diagnostic Molecular Oncology) and the Garvan Institute of Medical Research as Head of Translational Breast Cancer Research.

I also head the diagnostic molecular oncology service at RPAH, the first comprehensive somatic mutation testing service in NSW to achieve NATA laboratory accreditation. This service has provided molecular pathology to guide the diagnosis and treatment of over 1500 patients with cancer.

My research interest focuses on markers of breast cancer recurrence or progression in human tissues. I also have an interest in developmental pathways as potential novel therapeutic targets in breast cancer.

I am passionate about the translation of research into clinical practice, reflected in my clinical role as a molecular pathologist, integrating cutting edge technologies into the hospital setting. Much of my recent research concentrates on the application of molecular pathology to guide patient diagnosis and treatment selection.

I currently supervise a number of honours, masters and a PhD student.

Cancer

Publications

Journals

  • Wahi, K., Harvey, K., O'Toole, S., Guan, Y., Holst, J., Freidman, N., Wang, Q., Devadason, M., Quek, L., Pang, A., Larance, M., et al (2024). Macropinocytosis mediates resistance to loss of glutamine transport in triple-negative breast cancer. EMBO Journal, Online(17 October 2024), 1-26. [More Information]
  • Lambouras, M., Roelofs, C., Pereira, M., Gruber, E., Vieusseux, J., Lanteri, P., Johnstone, C., Muntz, F., O'Toole, S., Ooms, L., et al (2023). Functional and Phenotypic Characterisations of Common Syngeneic Tumour Cell Lines as Estrogen Receptor-Positive Breast Cancer Models. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 24(6), 5666. [More Information]
  • McKenzie, C., Karim, R., Kench, J., Klebe, S., Kramer, N., Kumarasinghe, M., Maclean, F., Morey, A., Nguyen, M., O'Toole, S., Gupta, R., Salisbury, E., Scolyer, R., Cooper, W., Anderson, L., Chen, V., et al (2023). Looking beyond workforce parity: addressing gender inequity in pathology. Pathology, 55(6), 760-771. [More Information]

2024

  • Wahi, K., Harvey, K., O'Toole, S., Guan, Y., Holst, J., Freidman, N., Wang, Q., Devadason, M., Quek, L., Pang, A., Larance, M., et al (2024). Macropinocytosis mediates resistance to loss of glutamine transport in triple-negative breast cancer. EMBO Journal, Online(17 October 2024), 1-26. [More Information]

2023

  • Lambouras, M., Roelofs, C., Pereira, M., Gruber, E., Vieusseux, J., Lanteri, P., Johnstone, C., Muntz, F., O'Toole, S., Ooms, L., et al (2023). Functional and Phenotypic Characterisations of Common Syngeneic Tumour Cell Lines as Estrogen Receptor-Positive Breast Cancer Models. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 24(6), 5666. [More Information]
  • McKenzie, C., Karim, R., Kench, J., Klebe, S., Kramer, N., Kumarasinghe, M., Maclean, F., Morey, A., Nguyen, M., O'Toole, S., Gupta, R., Salisbury, E., Scolyer, R., Cooper, W., Anderson, L., Chen, V., et al (2023). Looking beyond workforce parity: addressing gender inequity in pathology. Pathology, 55(6), 760-771. [More Information]
  • Mulholland, B., Hofstee, P., Millar, E., Bliuc, D., OToole, S., Forwood, M., Mcdonald, M. (2023). MCP-1 expression in breast cancer and its association with distant relapse. Cancer Medicine, 12(15), 16221-16230. [More Information]

2022

  • Hort, A., O'Toole, S., Yunaev, M. (2022). An unusual case of invasive lobular carcinoma with abundant extracellular mucin. Pathology, 54(1), 138-140. [More Information]
  • Scolyer, R., Atkinson, V., Gyorki, D., Lambie, D., O'Toole, S., Saw, R., Amanuel, B., Angel, C., Button-Sloan, A., Carlino, M., Ch'ng, S., Daneshvar, D., Esteves Domingues Pires da Silva, I., Ferguson, P., Gill, A., Gupta, R., Hong, A., Howle, J., Jackett, L., Lee, C., et al (2022). BRAF mutation testing for patients diagnosed with stage III or stage IV melanoma: practical guidance for the Australian setting. Pathology, 54(1), 6-19. [More Information]
  • Potter, A., Colebatch, A., Rawson, R., Ferguson, P., Cooper, W., Gupta, R., O'Toole, S., Saw, R., Ch'ng, S., Menzies, A., Long, G., Scolyer, R. (2022). Pathologist initiated reflex BRAF mutation testing in metastatic melanoma: experience at a specialist melanoma treatment centre. Pathology, 54(5), 526-532. [More Information]

2021

  • Wu, S., Roden, D., Al-Eryani, G., Bartonicek, N., Harvey, K., Cazet, A., Chan, C., Junankar, S., Hui, M., Millar, E., Horvath, L., Wilmott, J., Quek, C., Long, G., Scolyer, R., et al (2021). Cryopreservation of human cancers conserves tumour heterogeneity for single-cell multi-omics analysis. Genome Medicine, 13(1), 81. [More Information]
  • Paver, E., Cooper, W., Colebatch, A., Ferguson, P., Hill, S., Lum, T., Shin, J., O'Toole, S., Anderson, L., Scolyer, R., Gupta, R. (2021). Programmed death ligand-1 (PD-L1) as a predictive marker for immunotherapy in solid tumours: a guide to immunohistochemistry implementation and interpretation. Pathology, 53(2), 141-156. [More Information]
  • Paver, E., O'Toole, S., Cheng, X., Mahar, A., Cooper, W. (2021). Updates in the molecular pathology of non-small cell lung cancer. Seminars in Diagnostic Pathology, 38(5), 54-61. [More Information]

2020

  • Jankovic-Karasoulos, T., Bianco-Miotto, T., Butler, M., Butler, L., McNeil, C., O’Toole, S., Millar, E., Sakko, A., Ruiz, A., Birrell, S., et al (2020). Elevated levels of tumour apolipoprotein D independently predict poor outcome in breast cancer patients. Histopathology, 76(7), 976-987. [More Information]
  • Kalaw, E., Lim, M., Kutasovic, J., Sokolova, A., Taege, L., Johnstone, K., Bennett, J., Saunus, J., Niland, C., Ferguson, K., Pathmanathan, N., et al (2020). Metaplastic breast cancers frequently express immune checkpoint markers FOXP3 and PD-L1. British Journal of Cancer, 123(11), 1665-1672. [More Information]
  • Millar, E., Browne, L., Slapetova, I., Shang, F., Ren, Y., Bradshaw, R., Brauer, H., O'Toole, S., Beretov, J., Whan, R., et al (2020). Tils immunophenotype in breast cancer predicts local failure and overall survival: Analysis in a large radiotherapy trial with long-term follow-up. Cancers, 12(9), 1-15. [More Information]

2019

  • Smith, H., Hirukawa, A., Sanguin-Gendreau, V., Nandi, I., Dufour, C., Zuo, D., Tandoc, K., Leibovitch, M., Singh, S., Rennhack, J., Beith, J., O'Toole, S., et al (2019). An ErbB2/c-Src axis links bioenergetics with PRC2 translation to drive epigenetic reprogramming and mammary tumorigenesis. Nature Communications, 10(1), 1-19. [More Information]
  • Luk, P., Selinger, C., Cooper, W., Mahar, A., Palme, C., O'Toole, S., Clark, J., Gupta, R. (2019). Clinical Utility of In Situ Hybridization Assays in Head and Neck Neoplasms. Head and Neck Pathology, 13(3), 397-414. [More Information]
  • McCabe, M., Gauthier, M., Chan, C., Thompson, T., De Sousa, S., Puttick, C., Grady, J., Gayevskiy, V., Tao, J., Ying, K., Kohonen-Corish, M., O'Toole, S., Clark, J., Gupta, R., et al (2019). Development and validation of a targeted gene sequencing panel for application to disparate cancers. Scientific Reports, 9(1), 1-16. [More Information]

2018

  • Zilberg, C., Lee, M., Yu, B., Ashford, B., Kraitsek, S., Ranson, M., Shannon, K., Cowley, M., Iyer, N., Palme, C., Ch'ng, S., Low, T., O'Toole, S., Clark, J., Gupta, R. (2018). Analysis of clinically relevant somatic mutations in high-risk head and neck cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma. Modern Pathology, 31(2), 275-287. [More Information]
  • Duivenvoorden, H., Spurling, A., O'Toole, S., Parker, B. (2018). Discriminating the earliest stages of mammary carcinoma using myoepithelial and proliferative markers. PloS One, 13(7), 1-12. [More Information]
  • Gupta, R., Cooper, W., Selinger, C., Mahar, A., Anderson, L., Buckland, M., O'Toole, S. (2018). Fluorescent In Situ Hybridization in Surgical Pathology Practice. Advances in Anatomic Pathology, 25(4), 223-237. [More Information]

2017

  • Law, A., Yin, J., Castillo, L., Young, A., Piggin, C., Rogers, S., Caldon, C., Burgess, A., Millar, E., O’Toole, S., et al (2017). Andy's Algorithms: New automated digital image analysis pipelines for FIJI. Scientific Reports, 7(1), 1-11. [More Information]
  • Pang, J., Savas, P., Fellowes, A., Mir Arnau, G., Kader, T., Vedururu, R., Hewitt, C., Takano, E., Byrne, D., Lee, C., O'Toole, S., et al (2017). Breast ductal carcinoma in situ carry mutational driver events representative of invasive breast cancer. Modern Pathology, 30(7), 952-963. [More Information]
  • Barnet, M., O'Toole, S., Horvath, L., Selinger, C., Yu, B., Ng, C., Boyer, M., Cooper, W., Kao, S. (2017). EGFR–Co-Mutated Advanced NSCLC and Response to EGFR Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors. Journal of Thoracic Oncology, 12(3), 585-590. [More Information]

2016

  • Tran, T., Selinger, C., Kohonen-Corish, M., McCaughan, B., Kennedy, C., O'Toole, S., Cooper, W. (2016). Alterations of MET Gene Copy Number and Protein Expression in Primary Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer and Corresponding Nodal Metastases. Clinical Lung Cancer, 17(1), 30-38. [More Information]
  • van Geldermalsen, M., Wang, Q., Nagarajah, R., Marshall, A., Thoeng, A., Gao, D., Ritchie, W., Feng, Y., Bailey, C., Deng, N., Beith, J., O'Toole, S., Rasko, J., Holst, J., et al (2016). ASCT2/SLC1A5 controls glutamine uptake and tumour growth in triple-negative basal-like breast cancer. Oncogene, 35(24), 3201-3208. [More Information]
  • Vargas, A., Selinger, C., Satgunaseelan, L., Cooper, W., Gupta, R., Stalley, P., Brown, W., Soper, J., Schatz, J., Boyle, R., Tattersall, M., Bhadri, V., Scolyer, R., Karim, R., McCarthy, S., O'Toole, S., et al (2016). Atypical Ewing sarcoma breakpoint region 1 fluorescence in-situ hybridization signal patterns in bone and soft tissue tumours: diagnostic experience with 135 cases. Histopathology, 69(6), 1000-1011. [More Information]

2015

  • Chou, A., Fraser, S., Toon, C., Clarkson, A., Sioson, L., Farzin, M., Cussigh, C., Aniss, A., O'Neill, C., Watson, N., Clifton-Bligh, R., Learoyd, D., Robinson, B., Delbridge, L., Sidhu, S., O'Toole, S., Sywak, M., Gill, A., et al (2015). A Detailed Clinicopathologic Study of ALK-translocated Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma. American Journal of Surgical Pathology, 39(5), 652-659. [More Information]
  • Luk, P., Yu, B., Ng, C., Mercorella, B., Selinger, C., Lum, T., Kao, S., O'Toole, S., Cooper, W. (2015). BRAF mutations in non-small cell lung cancer. Translational Lung Cancer Research, 4(2), 142-148. [More Information]
  • Loh, S., Cooper, C., Selinger, C., Barnes, E., Chan, C., Carmalt, H., West, R., Gluch, L., Beith, J., Caldon, C., O'Toole, S. (2015). Cell cycle marker expression in benign and malignant intraductal papillary lesions of the breast. Journal of Clinical Pathology, 68(3), 187-191. [More Information]

2014

  • Gibbings, K., Warrier, S., Hwang, S., Rice, M., O'Toole, S., Carmalt, H. (2014). A giant phyllodes tumour with sepsis. ANZ Journal of Surgery, 84(11), 886-887. [More Information]
  • Tran, T., Selinger, C., Yu, B., Ng, C., Kohonen-Corish, M., McCaughan, B., Kennedy, C., O'Toole, S., Cooper, W. (2014). Alterations of insulin-like growth factor-1 receptor gene copy number and protein expression are common in non-small cell lung cancer. Journal of Clinical Pathology, 67(11), 985-991. [More Information]
  • Nair, R., Roden, D., Teo, W., McFarland, A., Junankar, S., Ye, S., Nguyen, A., Yang, J., Nicolic, I., Hui, M., Armstrong, N., Naylor, M., O'Toole, S., et al (2014). c-Myc and Her2 cooperate to drive a stem-like phenotype with poor prognosis in breast cancer. Oncogene, 33(30), 3992-4002. [More Information]

2013

  • Schade, B., Lesurf, R., Sanguin-Gendreau, V., Bui, T., Deblois, G., O'Toole, S., Millar, E., Zardawi, S., Lopez-Knowles, E., Sutherland, R., et al (2013). B-Catenin Signaling is a Critical Event in ErbB2-Mediated Mammary Tumor Progression. Cancer Research, 73(14), 4474-4487. [More Information]
  • Klein, O., Clements, A., Menzies, A., O'Toole, S., Kefford, R., Long, G. (2013). BRAF inhibitor activity in V600R metastatic melanoma. European Journal of Cancer, 49(5), 1073-1079. [More Information]
  • Klein, O., Clements, A., Menzies, A., O'Toole, S., Kefford, R., Long, G. (2013). BRAF inhibitor activity in V600R metastatic melanoma – Response. European Journal of Cancer, 49(7), 1797-1798. [More Information]

2012

  • Coates, A., Millar, E., O'Toole, S., Molloy, T., Viale, G., Goldhirsch, A., Regan, M., Gelber, R., Sun, Z., Castiglione-Gertsch, M., et al (2012). Prognostic interaction between expression of p53 and estrogen receptor in patients with node-negative breast cancer: results from IBCSG Trials VIII and IX. Breast Cancer Research, 14(6), 1-12. [More Information]

2011

  • Xu, H., Yan, M., Patra, J., Natrajan, R., Yan, Y., Swagemakers, S., Tomaszewski, J., Verschoor, S., Millar, E., van der Spek, P., O'Toole, S., McNeil, C., et al (2011). Enhanced RAD21 cohesin expression confers poor prognosis and resistance to chemotherapy in high grade luminal, basal and HER2 breast cancers. Breast Cancer Research, 13(1), R9-1-R9-36. [More Information]
  • O'Toole, S., Machalek, D., Shearer, R., Millar, E., Nair, R., Schofield, P., McLeod, D., Cooper, C., McNeil, C., McFarland, A., et al (2011). Hedgehog Overexpression Is Associated with Stromal Interactions and Predicts for Poor Outcome in Breast Cancer. Cancer Research, 71(11), 4002-4014. [More Information]
  • Roberts, C., Millar, E., O'Toole, S., McNeil, C., Lehrbach, G., Pinese, M., Tobelmann, P., McCloy, R., Musgrove, E., Sutherland, R., et al (2011). Identification of PUMA as an estrogen target gene that mediates the apoptotic response to tamoxifen in human breast cancer cells and predicts patient outcome and tamoxifen responsiveness in breast cancer. Oncogene, 30(28), 3186-3197. [More Information]

2010

  • Lopez-Knowles, E., Zardawi, S., McNeil, C., Millar, E., Crea, P., Musgrove, E., Sutherland, R., O'Toole, S. (2010). Cytoplasmic Localization of beta-Catenin is a Marker of Poor Outcome in Breast Cancer Patients. Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers and Prevention, 19(1), 301-309. [More Information]
  • Zardawi, S., Zardawi, I., McNeil, C., Millar, E., McLeod, D., Morey, A., Crea, P., Murphy, N., Pinese, M., Lopez-Knowles, E., Hamilton, A., Spillane, A., Lee, C., et al (2010). High Notch1 protein expression is an early event in breast cancer development and is associated with the HER-2 molecular subtype. Histopathology, 56(3), 286-296. [More Information]
  • Murphy, N., Biankin, A., Millar, E., McNeil, C., O'Toole, S., Segara, D., Crea, P., Olayioye, M., Lee, C., Fox, S., et al (2010). Loss of STARD10 expression identifies a group of poor prognosis breast cancers independent of HER2/Neu and triple negative status. International Journal of Cancer, 126(6), 1445-1453. [More Information]

2009

  • Millar, E., Anderson, L., McNeil, C., O'Toole, S., Pinese, M., Crea, P., Morey, A., Biankin, A., Henshall, S., Musgrove, E., et al (2009). BAG-1 predicts patient outcome and tamoxifen responsiveness in ER-positive invasive ductal carcinoma of the breast. British Journal of Cancer, 100(1), 123-133. [More Information]
  • Millar, E., Dean, J., McNeil, C., O'Toole, S., Henshall, S., Lin, J., Quong, A., Comstock, C., Witkiewicz, A., Musgrove, E., et al (2009). Cyclin D1b protein expression in breast cancer is independent of cyclin D1a and associated with poor disease outcome. Oncogene, 28(15), 1812-1820. [More Information]
  • Zhang, J., O'Toole, S., Sutherland, R., Musgrove, E. (2009). Dysregulation of Hedgehog, Wnt and Notch signalling pathways in breast cancer. Histology and histopathology, 24(3), 385-398. [More Information]

Selected Grants

2024

  • FMH Start-up Scheme, O'Toole S, Faculty of Medicine and Health/New Academic Staff Funding

2017

  • Targeting glutamine addiction of triple-negative breast cancer TNBC, Holst J, Swarbrick A, O'Toole S, Beith J, Cancer Council NSW/Research Grant
  • The Sydney University Immunotherapy Hub: Improving the efficacy of Immunotherapy, Palendira M, Britton W, Scolyer R, Long G, O'Toole S, Hersey P, DVC Research/Sydney Research Excellence Initiative 2020 (SREI)