Can a new research tool reveal why prostate cancer spreads to the bone?
Cancer types:
Prostate cancer
Project period:
–
Research institute:
University of Arizona
Award amount:
£199,584
Location:
USA
Professor Cynthia Miranti and her team in the United States are using a novel bioengineering method to work out exactly why prostate cancer often spreads to the bone. This innovative project will generate much needed clues that could one day lead to improved diagnosis and better treatments for patients with advanced prostate cancer.
Why is this research needed?
Prostate cancer is treatable if caught early, but more advanced disease can be much more difficult to treat. It most commonly spreads to the bone, and once it does it can be deadly. We desperately need to find out more about how this happens, and how we can stop it.
In this project Professor Miranti and her team will use an innovative new miniature model of advanced human prostate cancer to do just this. Their work will provide much needed answers, potentially pointing to better ways to predict who might be most at risk, and generating new leads to cures.
Discovery research opens doors and ideas that weren’t seen before, and therein changes the direction and questions that need to be answered. This project highlights exactly the importance of a new idea.
What is the science behind this project?
Professor Miranti and her team already have a bright idea about exactly how prostate cancer might spread into bones. They believe that a particular gene, called ‘Snail’, might be involved. They think that short bursts of activity from Snail might actually trigger prostate cancer cells to spread away from the primary tumour.
If the team can confirm this to be true, it could open up a whole new path to new targeted treatments for advanced prostate cancer, as well as potentially revealing new biological indicators that doctors could use to predict who is most likely to develop bone cancer spread.
But first the team need to find a way to test out their theory. To do this they need to bioengineer a brand-new research tool called an ‘organ-on-a-chip’. It consists of tiny 3D plastic microchips lined with living cells, designed to mimic a prostate cancer tumour. It even has tiny channels of flowing fluid that work like blood vessels. And in an exciting new twist, the team aim to physically link these chips to a different set lined with bone cells – creating a tiny replica of advanced cancer that spreads to bone.
With this new system in place, the team can then investigate exactly how Snail might be involved in prostate cancer spread. They can also study if the Snail mechanism might provide a good therapeutic target for new drugs, and if it would make a good marker to predict whether a patient’s prostate cancer is likely to spread.
What difference could this project make to patients in the future?
If we can find new markers that could predict whether a patient’s prostate cancer is likely to spread to the bones, this could one day help doctors make important decisions about how to tailor a patient’s treatment programme.
In time, this work could lead to more peace of mind and better outcomes for patients, as well as potential new targets for newer, more personalised treatments.
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