Can prostate tumours communicate with bones to promote the movement of prostate cancer cells towards them?

In a nutshell

The researchers will look at how prostate tumour cells and bones communicate with each other to help us understand how cancer spreads.

Why we funded it

We know that when prostate cancer cells break away from the main tumour, they show a preference for spreading to bones. When this happens, it’s an indication that the disease has reached an advanced stage that’s currently incurable.

This research aims to understand how and why prostate cancer cells preferentially spread to the bones. This might eventually lead to new treatment targets to prevent prostate cancer spread. In other cancer types, similar studies have shown that cancer cells can communicate with cells in the lung to help them spread. This study will generate brand new information specific to prostate cancer and the bone.

Grant information

Researcher - Dr Victoria James
Institution - University of Nottingham
Grant award - £49,939.00
Reference - PA14-007