Tuesday 24 May 2005
Everyman scientists at The Institute of Cancer Research have established an initiative to promote vital research for the development and clinical testing of new drugs for the treatment of prostate cancer. This announcement coincides with the launch of The Institute’s Everyman Male Cancer Awareness Month which runs throughout June.
Advanced prostate cancer is currently treated with hormone therapy. However, this only works for a short time with eventual, invariable, failure of hormone-treatment, leading to death. When hormone therapy ceases to work there are few options for the patient other than palliative care and patients can expect, on average, to survive for approximately a further 18 months. New drug development and drug trials are therefore urgently needed to address this issue.
Scientists and doctors at The Institute of Cancer Research, in conjunction with The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, are bridging this gap by investigating multiple ways to reverse hormone resistance by testing several new drugs in laboratory and clinical trials.
Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in UK men with around 30,000 cases diagnosed each year, yet patients have been missing out on drug developments. Currently drugs for other cancers are developed against specific targets, but as scientists do not fully understand how prostate cancer develops drugs are rarely developed specifically for the treatment of prostate cancer resulting in these patients missing out on new drug discoveries.
It has been difficult to determine the genetic causes of hormone resistant prostate cancer because it has been hard to acquire cancer cells from patients because of the nature of the spread of this cancer. In this programme patients in new drug trials at The Institute and The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust are having cancer cells removed and grown in the laboratory to identify molecular pathways and new targets for drug treatment.
Dr Johann de Bono, from The Institute of Cancer Research and The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, is leading this initiative to promote new trials in prostate cancer patients of genetically targeted anticancer drugs. These trials are currently focussed on hormone-resistant patients, with end-stage advanced prostate cancer, where hormone therapy has ceased to be effective. There are currently approximately 25 new drugs being evaluated as part of this initiative, bringing drugs to trial for prostate cancer patients far quicker than ever before.
In parallel, The Institute is also researching how prostate cancer becomes hormone resistant to facilitate the development of drugs to target the known mechanisms of hormone resistance. Abiraterone acetate is one such drug developed by chemists and scientists at The Institute. This drug will be tested later this year in prostate cancer at The Institute and The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust in collaboration with Cougar Biotechnology Inc.
Dr Johann de Bono, Team Leader and Consultant Medical Oncologist at The Institute of Cancer Research and Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust said: ‘These initiatives will ensure that in the future drug targets can be discovered and new anticancer drugs developed specifically for prostate cancer and that current drug discoveries are translated into real benefits for prostate cancer patients as rapidly as possible.’
Professor Colin Cooper, who holds The Grand Charity of Freemasons Chair of Molecular Biology, Head of the Everyman Centre at The Institute of Cancer Research said: ‘The Institute has a history of firsts in prostate cancer. These initiatives will assist the world-class scientists at The Institute in tackling prostate cancer research and treatment today and in years to come.’
-ends-
For more information, or to arrange interviews, please contact:
Victoria Rae or Emma Hayes
The Institute of Cancer Research
Tel: 020 7153 5380
Email: [email protected]
Notes to Editors
- Prostate cancer has now overtaken lung cancer to become the most common cancer to affect men in the UK, 30,000 cases are diagnosed each year and the disease kills one man per hour in the UK. 12% of all cancer-related deaths in men are prostate cancer related in the UK and US.
- June 2005 is the 8th annual Everyman Male Cancer Awareness Month.
- The Institute of Cancer Research is a centre of excellence with world leading scientists working on cutting edge projects. It was founded in 1909 to carry out research into the causes of cancer and to develop new strategies for its prevention, diagnosis and treatment. Website at: www.icr.ac.uk
- The Institute has a history of firsts in prostate cancer research having discovered the E2F3 gene as a marker of prostate cancer aggressiveness, isolated the BRCA2 gene which can determine predisposition to prostate cancer as well as breast cancer, developed ‘conformal radiotherapy’ allowing higher doses of radiation to be targeted directly at tumours and trialled the method of active surveillance. Professor Colin Cooper of The Institute co-ordinates the South of England NCRI Prostate Cancer Collaborative.
- The Everyman Centre, at The Institute of Cancer Research, is Europe’s first and only dedicated male cancer research centre. Everyman must raise £1.5 million each year to support the vital research into male cancer conducted at the centre.
- The Institute works in a unique partnership with the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, forming the largest comprehensive cancer centre in Europe. This relationship enables us to stay in close daily contact with those on the frontline in the fight against cancer - the clinicians, the carers and most importantly, the patients.
- The Drug trials are conducted at the Oak Foundation Drug Development Centre at The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust in Sutton, Surrey. The Oak Centre capitalises on the partnership between The Institute of Cancer Research and The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, where promising new drugs can be taken rapidly from the laboratory to the cancer patient. It has been built as part of The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust’s ongoing £30million Cancer Campaign.
- Professor Cooper’s position is funded by a £1 million donation over ten years to The Institute from The Freemasons Grand Charity to support vital research into prostate and testicular cancers. The position, known as The Grand Charity of Freemasons Chair of Molecular Biology, heads the male cancer research centre at The Institute.
Please note:
Unfortunately the press office are unable to answer queries from the general public. For general cancer information please refer to The Institute's cancer information page.