Institution - Imperial College London
Researcher - Professor Charlotte Bevan
Grant award - £243,893
Duration - 2011-2014
Reference - PG10-25 Bevan
This project will investigate a potential new treatment strategy for prostate cancer. The available treatment options for men with advanced prostate cancer are currently limited. There is a clear need to invest in research to focus on new ways to control and treat advanced prostate cancer. The outlook for men whose cancer is no longer responding to standard therapy is usually bleak, and this research team led by Dr Charlotte Bevan are working hard to find ways to improve this situation.
Manipulating prohibitin: a novel therapy for prostate cancer?
Hormonal therapies are currently the best option for patients with inoperable prostate cancer that has spread outside the prostate gland. These therapies are initially successful, but after 1 to 3 years patients often relapse with life-threatening disease. At this stage, there are very limited treatment options, although chemotherapy is sometimes offered. Dr Bevan and her team aim to take the first steps in developing a novel form of therapy. This is based on their previous studies showing that a protein called prohibitin can reduce the growth of prostate cancer cells. The team will use samples obtained with permission from men with prostate cancer to determine the best targets for the new therapy. Following this, they will design and test multiple therapies in model systems that represent the conditions in men with the disease, to determine the effect on tumour growth. Ultimately, the team aim to try and offer a new therapy that could be used as an alternative to existing therapies or used in combination with hormone therapies to improve their efficacy.
This is an outstanding proposal that aims to target the putative tumor suppressor protein, prohibitin, to combat androgen insensitive prostate cancer. The approach is appealing and the studies are highly innovative. This reviewer has immense enthusiasm for this study.