| THE
STUDY OF FIBROBLAST GROWTH FACTOR (FGF) SIGNALLING MOLECULES
IN DIAGNOSTIC PROSTATE CANCER BIOPSIES AS PROGNOSTIC MARKERS
FOR DISEASE PROGRESSION.
Dr Vincent Gnanapragasam University of Newcastle upon Tyne. |
Only 3% of the men diagnosed with prostate cancer will actually die from it. The challenge for modern urology is to try and identify the aggressive cancers at an early stage, and an important way forward is to identify molecular markers at time of diagnosis.
Obviously the tissue obtained at the time of biopsy is an essential resource here. However the tissue yield at the time of biopsy may be very small, this has been compensated for by techniques such as laser dissection of cancer cells, and, at a molecular level, real time Polymerase Chain Reactions (PCR). The latter allows small numbers of cells to provide enough substrate for qualitative and quantitative measurements of important cancer biomarkers.
The researchers have already shown that FGF may have a role in the progression and development of prostate cancer, and they think that the level of expression of FGF's has an important role in determining whether or not a cancer will behave aggressively. The research proposes to quantify the amount of FGF present in biopsies and see if this correlates with the tumour's behaviour. If the hypothesis is correct FGF levels will help clinicians better counsel their patients.
Research proposal summary dated 15 May 2006
Project 2005/06