YCR team at the University of York gets to the root of cancer problem
Posted on 2 December 2005
Existing therapies for treating prostate cancer adopt a similar approach, attacking the 'leaves' rather than the 'root', resulting in the disease recurring, often within two years.
But now researchers at the Yorkshire Cancer Research (YCR) Unit at the University of York have discovered how to isolate the 'root' of prostate cancer -- tumour stem cells, which make up one in 1,000 of cancer cells.
The breakthrough by the YCR Professor of Molecular Biology, Norman Maitland, and Dr Anne Collins will help the development of therapies for treating stem cells to stop them regenerating.
For the first time we have been able to extract these stem cells from prostate cancers and we are the only people in the world who have been able to propagate them in the laboratory
Professor Norman Maitland
Professor Maitland, the Director of the Unit based in the University's Department of Biology, said: "For the first time we have been able to extract these stem cells from prostate cancers and we are the only people in the world who have been able to propagate them in the laboratory.
"These cells are difficult to see, but Dr Collins has found some clever ways of identifying them. It's the most exciting thing I have seen in 10 years, but we don't want to give people false hope because the therapies for treating tumour stem cells have still to be developed.
"We are beginning to understand what they look like. We can now investigate specific therapies for killing the 'roots' rather than the 'leaves' of prostate cancers. Yorkshire Cancer Research deserves an enormous amount of credit because it was YCR who took the risk to let us do this work."
Elaine King, Chief Executive, Yorkshire Cancer Research added: "This is a definite step forward in the understanding of tumour stem cells. This latest discovery will allow YCR scientists to build upon this framework of knowledge, in the hope of developing effective treatments in the future."
The research may also have implications for the treatment of other cancers - tumour stem cells also occur in cancers of the breast and colon as well as in brain tumours.
The findings of the research are published in Cancer Research, the journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.
Notes to editors:
- The YCR Cancer Research Unit at the University of York was set up in 1980 by the then Yorkshire Cancer Research Campaign (now Yorkshire Cancer Research), an independent charity funding cancer research in Yorkshire. Professor Norman Maitland is a former Chairman of the British Prostate Group and is Co-ordinator of an international EU-funded network to develop gene therapy for prostate cancer.He is also founder of a University spin out company 'Pro-Cure Therapeutics', which also seeks to develop novel therapies for prostate cancer.
- Yorkshire Cancer Research (YCR) is the largest regional medical research charity in the UK, financing research into the cause and cure of cancer. It provides around £4 million each year for research in the region's five centres of research excellence at the Universities of Bradford, Hull, Leeds, Sheffield and York, and their teaching hospitals. For further information on Yorkshire Cancer Research please call 01423 501 269 or visit www.ycr.org.uk
- The Department of Biology at York is one of the leading centres for biological teaching and research in the UK. The Department, with more than 400 scientific and support staff and 400 undergraduates currently has one of the highest research ratings in the UK. If you have any queries about prostate cancer call The Prostate Cancer Charity's confidential helpline 0845 300 8383 which is staffed by specialist nurses and open from 10am to 4pm Monday to Friday and Wednesdays from 7 to 9pm or visit www.prostate-cancer.org.uk