Bringing a brand new treatment for advanced prostate cancer closer to men

Grant information

Why did we fund this project?

• There is an urgent need to develop new treatments for advanced prostate cancer that is resistant to other treatments such as hormone therapy.
• Professor Simon MacKay and team have identified that a target called IKKα is key to the development of advanced prostate cancer. IKKα had not been widely studied in prostate cancer before, and represented a brand new treatment target.
• In a previous Prostate Cancer UK-funded project, they developed a completely new drug that can prevent IKKα from working, and stop it driving advanced prostate cancer.
• However, they found that this drug is difficult to make into a form that can be given to men, as it is broken down quickly by the liver. This means the drug may not stay in men’s blood long enough to reach all the cancer cells.

What did the team do?

• In this project, the team further developed the drug to make it even better, and ensure it stays in the blood for longer.
• The team made numerous 'tweaks' to their drug, and investigated how this affected how effective it was, and how quickly it was broken down. 
• The team also further tested their drug using prostate cancer cells grown in the lab, to understand exactly how their drug works against prostate cancer.

What did the team achieve?

• The team have shown that their drug can kill a range of different prostate cancer cells grown in the lab. This has made them more confident it will work in men.
• Importantly, the team identified key improvements to their drug to slow its breakdown by the liver, moving the drug a step closer to being suitable for use in men.
• They also showed that their drug could be effective against prostate cancer in multiple ways. For example, they showed the drug can stimulate the immune system to kill cancer cells, and can block the production of new blood vessels that cancer needs to survive.

What does this mean for men?

• This project has taken this work a big step forward, but the team still need to improve the drug even more to slow its breakdown by the liver, before it will be suitable to give to men.
• To achieve this, the team have already been awarded a large amount of further funding.
• If this project is successful, the team anticipate that their drug could be tested in men through clinical trials within 5 years. This could lead to a much-needed new treatment becoming available to men with advanced prostate cancer.