Scientists at the University of Nottingham have discovered that prostate cancer is able to spread through a man’s body by taking off the genetic ‘handbrake’ that stops cells growing out of control — and a new project will now work out how to put the brakes back on.
Dr Corinne Woodcock is a Research Fellow in the School of Medicine at the University of Nottingham and is leading the research. She explains: “Cells in our body use genes as instruction manuals for how to function, and tumour suppressor genes normally function to stop cells from growing and spreading harmfully.
“We know that prostate cancer can trick cells into ignoring instructions from tumour suppressor genes, leaving them to potentially grow and spread unchecked, and that is one of the ways in which cancer can advance through a man’s body, becoming harder to treat.”
Supported by £271,579 from Prostate Cancer UK, Dr Woodcock is going to target this process with a treatment that she hopes will reactivate key tumour suppressor genes, making cells follow their instructions to put the brakes back on uncontrolled growth, and so halting or preventing the spread of disease.
Dr Woodcock continues: “We are using a drug that is currently being trialled in patients with other cancer types. The fact that we are using a medicine that is already being tested in other cancer types means that if we can show its potential effectiveness in treating prostate cancer in the lab, then we could move from research into clinical trials sooner than usual.”
This project is funded through Prostate Cancer UK’s Career Acceleration Fellowships, which support the most promising researchers at the beginning of their career, enabling them to make the biggest impact for men with prostate cancer.
Simon Grieveson, Assistant Director of Research at Prostate Cancer UK, said: “It is devastating when a man gets the news that his prostate cancer has spread and will be harder to treat.
“We’re excited to support Dr Woodcock’s innovative research, which aims to disrupt the key processes that help prostate cancer to grow and spread. What is more, as this treatment is already being tested in patients, this research has the potential to rapidly advance into clinical trials for prostate cancer, meaning that men could start to benefit much sooner from this novel treatment.
“It’s important that we are supporting research in Nottingham, as we’ve identified a shocking regional inequality in the UK. More men in the Midlands are diagnosed with prostate cancer at an advanced stage than in London. At Prostate Cancer UK we are working tirelessly to address this, and to make sure more men know about their prostate cancer risk in the Midlands and everywhere in the UK.”
For this project, Dr Woodcock will work closely with patient representatives in Nottingham and nationally. Dr Woodcock will also work with colleagues at the University of Nottingham, Medical University of Vienna, Weill Cornell Medicine, the Mayo Clinic, the University of Michigan, Umeå University, KU Leuven, and the University of Cambridge.