Tony McHale standing in his garden, smiling.

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Tony McHale (pictured above) discovered he had an alteration in the BRCA2 gene at the age of 61, putting him at a much higher risk of developing prostate cancer. Shortly after, Tony joined the IMPACT study at the ICR, which investigated whether regular screening would lead to earlier diagnosis of aggressive forms of the disease. Around 18 months later, the screening revealed Tony had prostate cancer. 

"Being involved in the IMPACT study saved my life. If I hadn't taken part, I'd never have known I had prostate cancer. As far as I was aware, I didn't have any symptoms – and the sooner the disease is detected and treated, the better the chances are of survival." – Tony
Prostate cancer affects 1 in 8 men in the UK, rising to 1 in 4 Black men
8 out of 10 men in the UK will live at least 10 years after diagnosis
Every year, 12,000 men in the UK die from prostate cancer 
Together we can help more men survive prostate cancer

Godfrey's prostate cancer story

 

DJ and music promoter, Godfrey Fletcher, found out he had prostate cancer in 2015 at the age of 47, shortly after his father had also been diagnosed.

"I was so lucky that my cancer was picked up at a very early stage. I was young and fit, with no symptoms. A year after my treatment finished, I was told it had been successful. My dad wasn't so fortunate. He was diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer and passed away at 80. His experience, and mine, showed me the importance of early diagnosis."

Why we need more research into prostate cancer

We're proud of the research advances we've made over the last 20 years. Our scientists discovered the drug abiraterone; identified genetic variants that influence risk of developing the disease; and pioneered new, more precise forms of radiotherapy. But despite our research advances, some prostate cancers remain difficult to treat. This includes those diagnosed at a later stage and those more aggressive tumours, which can spread quickly and evolve to resist treatment.

That's why we urgently need better ways to detect prostate cancer earlier, predict drug resistance, and develop smarter, more personalised treatments. Your gift will help our world-leading researchers unravel the complexity of prostate cancer, to give men precise and personalised care with the right treatments at the right time, to live longer and healthier lives.

Professor Eeles's goal is to develop new tests that could be used in prostate cancer screening, helping to identify men at a higher risk. Her team showed that a simple saliva test, carried out at home, was more accurate at identifying future risk of prostate cancer for some men than the current standard blood test. 

Building on this success, they recently launched a major new study to find out whether an improved version of this test – now suitable for more diverse groups, including Black men and younger men – can help detect more cancers earlier in men at higher risk. 

Tackling drug resistance

Our research underpinned the development of olaparib, a drug that revolutionised treatment for people with BRCA-related cancers. In a recent study, Professor Johann de Bono's team showed that changes which can be spotted with a simple blood test can reveal how long a prostate cancer patient will respond to olaparib. 

The ability to predict when – and how – patients will stop responding to olaparib could help doctors personalise treatment, and in the future, guide the development of new drugs to outsmart resistance – keeping us one step ahead of prostate cancer.

Professor Johann de Bono in the laboratory, smiling.

Creating smarter, kinder treatments for every man

Our scientists are at the forefront of precision cancer medicine – developing more effective treatments with fewer side effects.

Laboratory studies co-led by Dr Adam Sharp and Professor Johann de Bono showed that NXP800 – a new drug which targets a ‘master switch’ that cancer cells hijack to support their growth – slowed prostate cancer cell growth. This innovative drug could potentially also benefit men with advanced prostate cancer that has stopped responding to standard hormone therapy.

A study co-led by Professor Emma Hall has found that men with intermediate-risk, localised prostate cancer can be treated just as effectively with five sessions of higher-dose radiation therapy as with several weeks of standard treatment. Using stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT), which targets tumours with pinpoint accuracy, patients can receive a highly effective treatment with far fewer hospital visits. 

A study co-led by Professor Nick James has shown that a new artificial intelligence (AI) test can select which men with high-risk prostate cancer that has not spread will require the life-extending drug abiraterone. In the STAMPEDE trial, the team found that three out of four men could be spared unnecessary treatment, making the drug – discovered by our scientists – more affordable for the NHS.

Your gift can help every man with prostate cancer live longer, healthier lives

Help someone's dad, grandad, brother, uncle, partner, or friend survive prostate cancer. Your support will help fund life-saving research – so that every man can spend more precious time with their loved ones.

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 Related news and blogs

30/09/14 - by

Abiraterone, trade name 'Zytiga', was discovered and developed at the ICR 

The prostate cancer drug abiraterone has had a tortuous path through the NICE assessment process. 

It was first approved for use on the NHS in 2012, but its use in men who haven’t received chemotherapy was blocked in August, only for NICE to this month announce it was suspending its appraisal.

If you follow the work of The Institute of Cancer Research then you’ll know that abiraterone is a real success story for the organisation, and that we have been following what happens in this appraisal closely. Earlier this year, I blogged about NICE’s preliminary decision to block use of abiraterone earlier in the course of treatment. There have been a few changes since then so I thought I’d look at what’s new for abiraterone.

Abiraterone was discovered at the ICR and we developed it further with our clinical partner The Royal Marsden. It is now marketed at Zytiga by manufacturer Janssen.

The drug works by blocking the production of testosterone, which prostate tumours rely on to grow. It is now used as standard treatment for prostate cancer after chemotherapy, extending the lives of thousands of men in the UK with advanced prostate cancer.

This year, NICE has been looking at the use of abiraterone in prostate cancers before they are treated with chemotherapy. This would give men access to the drug earlier in the course of treatment, without needing to be treated with chemotherapy first. However in May, NICE announced its preliminary decision that the estimated costs of the drug were substantially above the range for which a drug is normally considered cost-effective, and that abiraterone wouldn’t be made available to these patients on the NHS. You can read more about this in my previous blog post here.

The ICR was obviously disappointed when this decision was confirmed in NICE’s Final Appraisal Determination, and our Chief Executive, Professor Paul Workman, released a statement expressing disappointment in the decision. Abiraterone maintains patients in a better state of health than chemotherapy, so there are real benefits for quality of life in giving men the additional months that come with abiraterone earlier in the course of treatment.

Professor Workman urged NICE and Janssen to continue discussions and to explore every option for making abiraterone available to these men at a price that is affordable for the NHS. Earlier this month we were delighted to see that NICE announced that the appraisal was going to be suspended for further discussions and that Janssen has submitted an amended Patient Access Scheme – which is an agreement between a drug’s manufacturer and the Department of Health to make a drug affordable for the NHS.

NICE’s says that the company will be discussing the amended Patient Access Scheme with the Department of Health, and may be able to submit further evidence to its appraisal committee.  NICE could then consider whether the new price plan made abiraterone cost-effective enough to approve.

In other abiraterone news, this week at a large clinical cancer conference of the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO), the study leader presented further clinical analysis of abiraterone before chemotherapy. The latest analysis shows that abiraterone significantly prolongs overall survival of men with prostate cancer by an average of 4.4 months. With the NICE appraisal potentially reopening soon, further evidence of the clinical effectiveness of abiraterone is welcome.

I’ll be following the outcomes of these discussions, and of course at the ICR we’re really hopeful that Janssen and the Department of Health will be able to come to an agreement which will allow NICE to consider abiraterone cost effective. I’ll let you know when we have more to report.

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