Researchers in Glasgow have been awarded £1.5 million to investigate ways to prevent prostate cancer spreading into the lymph nodes, paving the way to potential cures for the disease.
One in three men with prostate cancer in Scotland are diagnosed when the disease is too advanced for life-saving treatment.
Scientists at Glasgow University and the Beatson Institute are now being funded by Prostate Cancer UK to explore ways of preventing the disease from spreading by targeting the lymph nodes as a "first stop" line of defence.
Lymph nodes are a network of glands around the body that form part of the immune system.
READ MORE: Prostate cancer: The 15-minute test could save so many men's lives
They are often the first place that prostate cancer reaches as it advances beyond the prostate and progresses further, becoming harder to cure.
The team, led by Hing Leung - a professor of urology and surgical oncology - will investigate how and why cancer cells move from the prostate to the lymph nodes with the goal of tailoring new treatments to stop or delay this spread at the earliest stage.
The researchers will analyse prostate and lymph node samples donated by men who have had them removed during prostate cancer treatment.
They will study the different types of cells and molecules inside them, with the aim of discovering how they interact, and how this interaction allows cancer to move from the prostate into the lymph nodes.
By using computer programs that can learn and find patterns, they also hope to discover new features in the cancer cells that can predict how well a given man will respond to treatment.
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Professor Hing said: “When a man’s prostate cancer is contained to his prostate, it’s much easier for doctors to successfully treat him.
"However, when the cancer spreads, it becomes much more dangerous, more unpredictable, and a cure is much less likely.
“Lymph nodes are often the ‘first stop’ for tumours that progress beyond the prostate and further around the body, so we are working out how cancers make this first journey — and then discovering how to disrupt it.
"This will be key to future treatments which delay or even prevent the spread of prostate cancer for men.”
It comes as a separate study this week suggested that a 10 minute MRI scan in combination with a blood test could provide an accurate screening service for prostate cancer.
The Reimagine study, based on an analysis of around 300 men aged 50 to 75 in London, found that scanning detected many cases of the disease in men who would otherwise have been given the all-clear based on blood tests which returned a low score for levels of the Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) - a biomarker for prostate cancer.
READ MORE: Routine screening for prostate cancer takes step closer
Speaking about the Glasgow project, Dr Matthew Hobbs, director of research at Prostate Cancer UK, said: “A man living with prostate cancer has the best chance of living well and living longer if we can understand more about how the disease is behaving, so he gets the most effective treatments that are tailored to the characteristics, behaviour, and biology of his particular cancer.
“That’s why we fund exciting innovative projects like this, thanks to the generous donations of our supporters.
"Cutting-edge research is needed most urgently in Scotland, where one in three men with prostate cancer get their diagnosis when the disease has already spread and it’s too late for a cure.
“I’m delighted to add Professor Leung’s new grant to our portfolio, taking Prostate Cancer UK’s total investment in current research projects in Scotland to over £3m.”
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