Evaluation of novel HOX-targeted cancer drugs
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Evaluation of novel HOX-targeted cancer drugs on prostate biopsy tissue
IRAS ID
181949
Contact name
Hardev Pandha
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Surrey
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 11 months, 29 days
Research summary
Despite great progress in the diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer, a significant number of men in the UK are still dying from the disease. More treatments are needed, particularly for more advanced prostate cancer- where cells can spread to other organs. One efficient way of assessing new drugs is to test them on cancer cells growing in the laboratory. This gives good information but is quite limited because we know cancer tissue is quite complex with many different cell types making up the actual tumour ‘lump’. We feel a better way of testing new drugs is to obtain a small piece of cancer tissue and treat that in the test tube rather than just cancer cells. We are therefore proposing we obtain cancer tissue from patients at a time when a patient is undergoing prostate biopsies. In this process, the doctor will take 8-10 biopsies from the prostate gland using a special instrument- each actual biopsy is around 1mm wide and 1.5cm long, so very small. We propose the doctor taking just 1 extra biopsy for research at the time he/she takes the normal 8-10. Studies have shown, it is safe to take up to 22 biopsies so we don’t think one extra will be a problem for the patient. The extra biopsy will be taken to the laboratory and treated with new drugs in the test tube. This will give us a wealth of information as to the anti-cancer effects of the drug. This will directly influence how we use these drugs for patient treatment in the near future.
REC name
London - Surrey Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
15/LO/1111
Date of REC Opinion
9 Jul 2015
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion