May Research News
Welcome to the May edition of Research News!
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From Ideas to Innovation 2026
What happens when the prostate cancer research community comes together?
Over 200 researchers from 40 institutions came together in London to share ideas, spark collaborations, and drive progress for men with prostate cancer.
Explore delegate feedback, hear researchers reflect on the impact, read blogs capturing memorable moments, and discover what delegates valued most at From Ideas to Innovation 2026!
Joint Think Tank with Movember
On 23 April, Prostate Cancer UK and Movember came together to host their first joint Health Equity Think Tank - bringing together researchers, healthcare professionals, men with lived experience, and patient advocates to tackle some of the biggest equity challenges in prostate cancer.
Discussions focused on three key areas: Black health equity, geography and deprivation, and navigation and decision support.
We’ll now take this forward through a public-facing report, setting out shared priorities and practical, equity-led solutions.
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: Precision Medicine in Prostate Cancer
For many years, prostate cancer treatment followed a “one size fits all” approach. However, each man’s cancer is unique, and not everyone responds to treatment in the same way.
Research funded by Prostate Cancer UK and led by Dr Joaquin Mateo and his team at The Institute of Cancer Research, London, set out to understand what makes each man's prostate cancer different and how this could be used to improve treatment.
By studying genetic changes involved in DNA repair, including BRCA mutations, the team helped show how targeted treatments such as olaparib - a drug first used in breast and ovarian cancers - could be used in prostate cancer.
Together with follow‑on clinical trials, this research helped bring olaparib into prostate cancer care. It’s now available in the UK, with treatment decisions based on the genetic make‑up of each man’s cancer - a real shift towards more personalised treatment.
Read more about the world's first precision medicine for prostate cancer
Funding Opportunities
New funding scheme - launching soon
We’re partnering with the Windsor Fellowship on a new scheme funding summer internships for Black and Mixed Black students in prostate cancer labs. We're looking for UK-based, prostate cancer researchers to host 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 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 grant management system, so if you're planning to apply to our Research Innovation Awards or our Transformational Impact Awards, things will look a little different.
While we get everything ready, you’ll be able to view the application guidance and questions for both rounds on our website - so you can get ahead and start preparing your application. We expect the new system to be ready in July, and we’ll keep you updated.
If you're thinking about applying to any of our schemes, we’d love to hear from you - get in touch early so we can provide guidance and advice ([email protected])!
Shape the Future of UK Prostate Cancer Clinical Research
We're inviting Expressions of Interest to Chair the UK Prostate Cancer Clinical Research Strategy Group (CRSG).
This is a senior, three-year leadership role shaping the UK clinical research landscape - bringing the community together, identifying key gaps, and supporting high-quality trials.
Deadline: 4pm Monday 22 June 2026
Recently Published Papers
Each week, we highlight newly published papers on our social media channels that have been supported by our funding. Here are last month’s featured papers:
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