Download PG12-23 Falasca Lay summary Principal Investigator: Professor

PG12-23 Falasca Lay summary
Principal Investigator: Professor Marco Falasca, Professor at the Blizard
Institute, Queen Mary University of London
Lay title:
Identification of new drugs for prostate cancer
What are you proposing?
To develop new and more active drugs to oppose prostate cancer development and progression we need to
understand which molecules are important for the tumour to grow. Once we identify these molecules, we can
design drugs to block them and therefore block tumour growth. We have identified two molecules that are
important for the growth of prostate cancer cells. We here propose to test drugs that are able to block these
molecules in the laboratory setting and in animal models.
Why are you proposing it?
Our preliminary data support the hypothesis that the target protein we propose to inhibit with specific drugs
play a key role in prostate cancer progression. Our aim is to test new drugs in laboratory experiments to
provide strong validation for their use in clinical setting.
How are you proposing to do it?
We want to validate in cell culture experiments the effectiveness of different drugs and test the most promising
compounds in animal model of prostate cancer.
How long will it take?
The project last 36 months.
What is the budget?
£178,587
What are the expected outcomes?
The expected outcome is the validation and identification of drugs that can be used in clinical trials.
How could it make a difference to the lives of men affected by prostate
cancer?
The drugs targets specific molecular mechanisms involved in drug resistance and therefore are potentially
relevant for patients that develop resistance to other chemotherapy drugs. The main goal of our research
program is to improve drug treatment options, and ultimately survival, for patients diagnosed with prostate
Prostate Cancer UK is a registered charity in England and Wales (1005541) and in Scotland (SC039332). A company limited by guarantee registered number 2653887 (England and Wales).
cancer. We believe that the results anticipated from this innovative proposal have the potential to provide new
treatment options.
Please write a summary of the project in one sentence only.
The current proposal is focussed towards the development of new strategies to counteract prostate cancer
progression and specifically, aims at testing specific inhibitors in animal models that can be further developed
to be brought to clinical testing soon.