The Strathclyde team – along with researchers from the Universities of Glasgow and Dundee – have received a share of £691,000 to search for answers to key questions surrounding prostate cancer, which is the most common cancer in men.
Scottish institutions will receive three of the 17 grants that Prostate Cancer UK is awarding as part of the first wave of funding through the charity’s ambitious new MANifesto research strategy. The charity is injecting £11 million into research this year to focus on the key areas of understanding risk, improving diagnosis and refining treatment options for men living with the disease.
Professor Simon Mackay, from the Strathclyde Institute of Pharmacy and Biomedical Science, has received £249,000 to develop a new ground-breaking drug to treat advanced prostate cancer. He said, “We have developed a new drug-like compound which could help improve life expectancy for men with advanced prostate cancer over and above the six months associated with the present ‘gold standard’ – chemotherapy drug, docetaxel. We are delighted that this new Prostate Cancer UK grant enables our researchers to continue to develop a new drug candidate ready for clinical trials, building on earlier funding from Cancer Research UK.”
Professor Rob Mairs from the University of Glasgow’s Institute of Cancer Sciences, has received £205,000 to improve radiation treatment by directly targeting prostate cancer cells. He said, “Although radiotherapy is widely used in the treatment of prostate cancer, damage to neighbouring tissues and organs limits the dose which patients can receive. With the support of key funding from Prostate Cancer UK, we will develop a more targeted approach to radiotherapy, which will offer a more effective treatment of prostate cancer which has spread to other areas of the body. This new treatment plan, which involves the use of a new ground-breaking drug, will help reduce the risk of normal tissue damage.”
Ghulam Nabi, Senior Lecturer, Surgical Uro-oncology at University of Dundee has received £237,000 to investigate whether new ultrasound techniques could be used to diagnose prostate cancer and identify whether it is aggressive or not.
“Thanks to this grant from Prostate Cancer UK our researchers have the opportunity to trial new and innovative ultrasound techniques to better identify cancerous tissues in the prostate, as well as helping to better determine whether a tumour is aggressive or benign. We hope that as a result we will be able to help more men to be diagnosed faster and more accurately in the future.”
All 17 of the projects to receive funding were chosen because of their extremely high quality and relevance to men with prostate cancer.
EH News Bureau
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