My friend and former boss Bill (William) Duncan, who has died aged 93, was one of the outstanding academic oncologists of his era, and, save for a five-year period spent in Toronto, held the post of professor of radiation oncology at the University of Edinburgh from 1971 until his retirement in 1995.
From an early point at Edinburgh he cultivated unusually close links with the surgeons working there, and those relationships brought about joint clinics and joint theatre sessions, prefiguring the multidisciplinary team approach that is now standard in the management of cancer.
He also published on many aspects of cancer and its treatment, and his international reputation primarily rested on the clinical trials of fast neutron therapy carried out at the MRC cyclotron at the Western general hospital in Edinburgh, where he recruited a strong team of physicists, engineers, radiographers and oncologists. The trials failed to confirm the benefits previously claimed for neutron therapy in the treatment of cancer, and therefore allowed efforts to be focused more profitably on other areas.
Born in Aberdeen, Bill was the son of Jeannie (nee Barclay) and William Duncan Sr, a livestock dealer. From Morrison’s academy in Crieff and Aberdeen grammar school he went to Aberdeen University, where in 1954 he gained a medical degree. The following year he married fellow medical student Joyce Gellatly.
After national service Bill trained in radiotherapy at the Christie hospital in Manchester, and was appointed consultant there in 1964 before moving to Edinburgh in 1971.
His sojourn in Canada came about in 1985 when he was appointed chief of radiation oncology at Princess Margaret hospital in Toronto. There he re-energised the department by recognising the latent talent within the younger clinicians and encouraging and promoting their interests. In 1990 he returned to his post in Edinburgh.
In his subsequent retirement, Bill spent many years caring for Joyce at home after she was diagnosed with dementia. Following her admission to a care home he visited her every afternoon. He found great strength in his Christian faith, which had sustained him throughout his life, though it was not something to which he drew attention.
Bill is survived by Joyce and their three sons, Gordon, Graeme and Ian.
