The PROFILE study

Co-led by Professor Rosalind Eeles, Professor Mark Emberton and Dr Chris Parker, the PROFILE study is examining the role of prostate biopsy screening in men who are at increased risk of developing prostate cancer.

The PROMIS study

Co-led by Professor Mark Emberton, Professor Rosalind Eeles and Dr Chris Parker, the priority areas of the PROMIS study are identifying men at highest risk of developing clinically significant prostate cancer and distinguishing aggressive prostate cancer from indolent disease.

The DNA sequencing project

Professor Johann de Bono, Professor David Dearnaley, Dr Amanda Swain and Dr Gerhardt Attard lead the DNA sequencing project, which is pursuing next-generation sequencing studies of tumour tissue and plasma DNA to generate genomic signatures and guide patient care for prostate cancer, helping to distinguish the indolent form of the disease from the lethal disease. This project currently involves more than 1,000 men with prostate cancer treated at one of the three London sites.

The CRPC stratification project

Professor Charlotte Bevan, Professor Johann de Bono and Dr Gerhardt Attard lead the castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) stratification project, which is focusing on microRNAs that affect androgen receptor and AKT signalling. These are being detected in the plasma of patients undergoing phase II and III trials.

The CTC project

Co-led by Dr Emma Hall, Professor Johann de Bono and Professor Charlotte Bevan, the circulating tumour cell (CTC) project is proposing a biomarker-driven, randomised trial to show that switching treatment based on unfavourable post-treatment CTC count and lactate dehydrogenase decreases exposure to ineffective drugs without impairing outcome.