Spying on cells' communications to test for aggressive prostate cancer

What you need to know

• This project focuses on one way that prostate cancer cells communicate – by sending out small packages called extracellular vesicles.

• The researchers will look for ways to decode the information carried by these packages.

• This could lead to a blood test that can identify men at risk of aggressive prostate cancer.

What will Dr Webber and his team do?

Cancer cells often talk to each other by sending out small packages called extracellular vesicles. These packages escape from the prostate and enter the man's blood stream where they help the cancer to grow and spread around the body. Once they reach other parts of the body, such as the bones, lungs, and liver, these vesicles can act like a Trojan horse and trick normal cells into making a friendly environment for prostate cancer cells to grow.

From previous research, the researchers know that these vesicles carry sugar-like structures on their surface that provide information about the cancer they came from.

In this project Dr Webber and his team will grow prostate cells in 3D to form ‘miniature prostates’ that they can study. By changing these cells to make them more, or less, aggressive, the researchers can mimic the various stages of prostate cancer.

They will then use a new test they have developed to detect the sugar-like structures on the surface of these vesicles, and compare the results from the aggressive and non-aggressive cells to see if the test can tell the two types apart.

By doing this, they hope to develop a test that could tell if a man has prostate cancer, and how likely it is to spread. This could help doctors to identify men at risk of prostate cancer before the disease has a chance to spread, and avoid unnecessary biopsies and surgeries. It could also help doctors to choose the best treatments for these men.

How will this benefit men?

This research could greatly improve the lives of men with prostate cancer.

Currently, there is no screening programme for prostate cancer. Existing tests for the disease can be unreliable, falsely reassuring some men that they don’t have the disease, and worrying others who are wrongly told they do.

This leads to many men missing out on treatment they urgently need, as well as to other men undergoing unnecessary biopsies that have their own side effects.

By developing a simple test that can detect extracellular vesicles in the blood, the researchers hope to improve on existing tests and identify men at risk of aggressive prostate cancer at an earlier stage.

This could lead to more men getting the treatment they need, sooner than is currently possible, improving their chances of surviving prostate cancer. It could also reduce the risk of unnecessary treatments (and anxiety) for men who don’t have the disease, or whose disease is not life-threatening.

Grant information

Reference: RIA21-ST2-007
Researcher: Dr Jason Webber
Institution: Swansea University
Award: £402,027