June Research News
Welcome to the June edition of Research News!
Please get in touch with any feedback or suggestions for future editions of Research News.
TRANSFORM update - £18m boost from Government to fast-track vital screening evidence
We're delighted by the recent announcement that the Government will boost funding for our TRANSFORM prostate cancer screening trial by up to £18m - ensuring all eligible Black men will be invited to take part in Stage 2 of the study.
The associated TRANSFORM Discovery programme – a repository integrating multiple biological samples with high-resolution imaging, digitised pathology, genetic data and clinical information from consenting TRANSFORM participants – will also, as a result, become larger and more diverse.
TRANSFORM Discovery will enable researchers to create highly detailed “digital twins” – virtual representations of participating men – supporting innovative translational studies that have not previously been possible in prostate cancer research.
Featured Research Project: INTENSIFY Clinical Trial
This edition of Research News spotlights the INTENSIFY clinical trial led by Professor Simon Crabb (University of Southampton), Professor Robert Jones (University of Glasgow), Professor Gerhardt Attard (University College London), and Dr Sarah Chamberlain (University of Southampton).
Learn more about the research and its potential to make a real difference for men with prostate cancer.
Research Impact: What We've Achieved
Our Research Impact pages showcase how ideas we fund grow into real‑world advances — from early lab work to clinical trials that bring new diagnostics and treatments closer to helping men. Each month, we’ll spotlight one of these stories.
This month’s feature: Redefining prostate cancer diagnosis
Prostate cancer used to be diagnosed via biopsies taken at random from the prostate gland — meaning significant cancers could be missed around 50% of the time.
Research funded by Prostate Cancer UK, led by Professor Mark Emberton and his team at University College London, explored whether the imaging technique multiparametric MRI (mpMRI) could effectively detect prostate cancer.
This work led to the PROMIS trial, which showed that mpMRI can be used to guide prostate biopsies more precisely — reducing unnecessary biopsies and treatment for prostate cancers that wouldn’t cause harm.
This approach has transformed how prostate cancer is diagnosed in the UK. MRI scans are now used before biopsy — helping more men avoid unnecessary biopsies, get a more accurate diagnosis and avoid treatments that may not benefit them.
Introducing our new Career Acceleration Fellows!
We’re delighted to introduce our newest Career Acceleration Fellows (CAFs). Please join us in congratulating Dr Jacky Leung (The Institute of Cancer Research, London), Dr Shaun Scaramuzza (University of Manchester), Dr Niamh McKerr (Queen’s University Belfast) and Dr Laura Martínez Escardó (CRUK Scotland Institute) on their awards. Special thanks to the CRIS Cancer Foundation, who co‑funded two of the CAFs in partnership with Prostate Cancer UK.
The CAFs research ranges from exploring how prostate cancer cells evade signals that would normally trigger cell death, to investigating if some common blood pressure medications might help hormone therapy work better for longer.
We’ll share more about their exciting research in the newsletter soon, but in the meantime, please visit our Research We Fund pages to learn more about their work.
Making Progress - Registration Open Now!
We’re excited to share that Making Progress, our dedicated meeting for Early Career Researchers (ECRs), will return on 21 April 2027 at the Royal College of Nursing, London.
If you're a lead applicant on a Prostate Cancer UK grant, you should have received an email with a link to share with your ECRs so they can register.
If you're an ECR working in prostate cancer, please visit our website to find out more and register.
Get ready for an event that will help you build the skills to become a future leader in prostate cancer research.
Funding Opportunities
Clinical Research Training Fellowships - Open now
We’re offering clinical research training fellowships in partnership with the MRC to researchers with a clinical background, who wish to undertake a PhD or reacquire skills after time away from research. The fellowships include funding for salaries and consumables. The scheme is now open with a deadline of Wednesday 2 September 2026. Find out more on our website.
New Summer Internship Funding Scheme - Open now
We’re partnering with the Windsor Fellowship on a new scheme funding summer internships for Black and Mixed Black undergraduate students in prostate cancer research labs. We’re looking for UK-based researchers interested in hosting 8-week summer placements in 2027. Stipend for the student and a small consumables budget will be provided. Find out more about the scheme and register your interest on our website.
Coming soon!
If you’ve applied to one of our grant rounds before, you’ll be familiar with our online grant management system, Grant Tracker. This summer, we’re moving to a new system so if you're planning to apply to our Research Innovation Awards or our Transformational Impact Awards the process will look a little different. While we’re getting everything ready, the guidance and questions sets for both these rounds are available on our website so you can start planning your applications! We anticipate the new system being ready for you to use in July, but we’ll keep you up to date.
Planning on applying? We’d love to hear from you - please get in touch early at [email protected] so we can offer guidance and advice.
Recently Published Papers
Each week, via our Prostate Cancer UK Researchers LinkedIn page, we highlight a newly published paper that has derived at least in part from our funding. Here are last month's specially selected papers:
A team based at UCL and the University of Trento, led by Prof Gert Attard and Prof Francesca Demichelis, investigated if measuring ctDNA alongside serum PSA could help identify men with advanced prostate cancer who may benefit from treatment intensification.
A team based at UCL led by Prof Gert Attard examined whether PSA levels measured during and after treatment, together with radiological features, could help guide more personalised treatment decisions for men with prostate cancer.
A team based at Swansea University led by Dr Jason Webber explores the role of extracellular vesicles in intercellular communication in prostate cancer.
Research led by the late Prof Val Macaulay at the University of Oxford investigated the importance of IGF-1R in DNA double-strand break repair in prostate cancer.
Stay Connected
Missed previous editions of Research News? Catch up below.
Are you a healthcare professional? Stay up to date on the latest clinical developments in prostate cancer by subscribing to our dedicated newsletter for healthcare professionals.
Not yet subscribed? Use the link below to get future Research News delivered direct to your email inbox.
