Finding out what drives prostate cancer to spread

2021 John Paynter Research Innovation Award

What you need to know

• The researchers are studying prostate cancer metastasis (how cancer spreads from one place to another). 
• They want to create a "map" of how prostate cancer spreads in the body. 
• They will also study how the cancer interacts with the body's immune system and metabolism to help it spread. 

What will Dr Bezzi and his team do?

The researchers are studying how prostate cancer spreads and grows in the body. Currently, it is not possible to cure prostate cancer once it spreads beyond the prostate. Dr Bezzi and his team want to understand what helps and hinders this spread so that treatments could be developed that stop it from happening. 

As part of this, Dr Bezzi plans to create a ‘map’ of which parts of the body prostate cancer cells like to go to, and how they behave once they get there. To create this map, the team will use a large collection of prostate cancer cells from mice. These cells will have different genetic characteristics that may affect how they spread and grow.  

The team will then use a technique called barcoding to track the movement of these cells in the mice's bodies. By doing this, the team hopes to understand how certain genetic features of prostate cancer cells can affect their ability to spread and grow in different parts of the body. 

Dr Bezzi and his team will also be studying the role of the microenvironment in how prostate cancer spreads. The microenvironment is the area around a cancer cell, and it can contain many different types of cells and molecules that can affect the cancer cell's behaviour.  

By studying the microenvironment, Dr Bezzi hopes to understand how it can help or hinder the spread and growth of prostate cancer. 

How will this benefit men?

Dr Bezzi's research could significantly improve our understanding of how prostate cancer spreads and grows in the body.  

This could lead to new treatments for prostate cancer that can stop or slow the cancer cells from spreading and making the disease incurable.  

By targeting the specific causes of this spread, these treatments should be more effective and have fewer side effects than existing treatments. 

Grant information

Reference: RIA21-ST2-021 
Researcher: Dr Marco Bezzi  
Institution: The Institute of Cancer Research, London 
Award: £404,720 

This grant is supported in the memory of John Paynter