New ways to treat advanced prostate cancer

In a nutshell

This project aims to help establish new ways to treat advanced prostate cancer after hormone therapy stops working. The researcher’s aim to develop a further understanding of why existing treatments are more successful in some patients than others as this will allow them to identify new ways to treat this disease.

Why we funded it

Being able to tell which men will respond to which new prostate cancer drugs would mean that the right drugs are given to each patient. This would maximise the effects of the treatment, whilst avoiding side effects in those men who would not benefit from the drug.

Progress so far…

In the first year of this project the researchers have validated their discovery that two changes to the Androgen Receptor can significantly reduce survival time for men with prostate cancer. They’ve found that seeing high levels of these changes together in the same man reduces survival by more than 3.5 years compared to men that have only one of these markers. Each of these changes are affected by different treatments, so they have tested various drugs on prostate cancer cells to find a combination that could work in men.

Grant information

Researcher - Dr Joanne Edwards
Institution - Glasgow University
Grant award - £99,758.00
Reference – S14-003