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Snowdon 500 Challenge – 21st & 22nd May 2011

Help us find a cure for prostate cancer

About The Prostate Cancer Research Centre

"The group is clearly doing the very best work on prostatic stem cells in the world."

US National Institutes of Health 

The Prostate Cancer Research Centre (PCRC) is based at the Institute of Urology at University College London. It has a worldwide reputation for innovation and discovery in the field of prostate cancer research. Under the leadership of Professor John Masters the Research Centre employs 10 scientists and support staff and needs £1.5M each year to fund its highly respected research programme. 

Meeting the cost of carrying out that research is a constant challenge. In order to make the breakthroughs that will improve survival and save lives the Centre has to ensure that funds are in place now and in the future. 

The PCRC is looking to build knowledge in the following three key areas: 

• understanding how prostate cancer develops and progresses

• managing prostate cancer

• treating prostate cancer

Current research

Prostate Cancer Stem Cells

Within every cancer there is a small number of stem cells that are responsible for the growth and progression of the cancer. If we can target and kill the cancer stem cells it may be possible to increase survival and maybe even cure some cancers. The goal is to develop prostate cancer stem cell therapy. The Research Centre has been awarded two grants from the US National Institutes of Health for its stem cell research – it is rare for such grants to be given to scientists working outside the US.

Prostate Cancer Invasion and Spread

While prostate cancer is restricted to the prostate it can be cured with surgery or radiotherapy. Once it has spread beyond the prostate, however, it is hard to treat. It is crucial for PCRC to understand how and why the prostate cancer cells spread in order to be able to design treatments to delay or prevent this happening.

One of the PCRC research teams has identified mutations in a gene that helps to control cell movement. The team believes that the cancer cells have hi-jacked this gene to help them spread. Mutations have been found in nearly half of the cancers restricted to the prostate, and to nearly all the ones that have spread, suggesting that the mutations might be helping the cancer cells spread. One of the mutations in this gene is very common and might make a good target for therapy.

The research team aims to find out how the mutations alter the behaviour of the cells. One of the scientists describes it thus: “Once we know precisely what the mutations do to the cells and their migration, we can then start to develop drugs to attack the cancer cells carrying a mutation to slow down or prevent spread”.

Scientific research into cancer is getting ever closer to finding life saving therapies and cures which will one day conquer this terrible disease, but it is a long and expensive crusade.

The money raised by the Snowdon 500 Challenge event will make an important contribution in helping the Prostate Cancer Research Centre continue with it’s important programme of work.

Video

Watch the video describing the work of PCRC and explaining their need for funding.