Malcolm gives up as chairman

Malcolm Gamlin is to retire as Prospect chairman at the AGM in April after more than 10 years in the role. He is pleased though that Tim Bond, a committee member, has volunteered to take on the role, subject to confirmation at the AGM, as is the case with the other committee positions. Our thanks to Malcolm for his hard work over the years.

Meetings changed and ‘coffee mornings’

These meetings have had to be changed so we can have a guest speaker: Mon March 22 –  Zoom members’ meeting – Professor Mark Emberton (UCLH), one of the leading lights on the PROMIS trial. Wed April 21 – Zoom Informal members’ meeting followed by AGM. Joining details later.  Our Zoom ‘coffee mornings’ are held on the first Thursday of the month (10-noon). Information by email beforehand. New patients and current members are all welcome. Newbies can contact us via Contact us (above) or our Tackle helpline (0800 035 5302). This year’s walks are on April 8 (Ashton Court) and Oct 8 (Lansdown).

Bone scan breakthrough

A new bone scan technique can identify men with advanced prostate cancer who’ll benefit from radiotherapy. This ground-breaking achievement could help extend the lives of 25-30% of such patients (Jan ’21). See more here

First oral hormone therapy approved

A new oral therapy for hormone treatment has been approved in the US. The tablet, relugolix,  is taken daily to stop testosterone being produced. It stops the need for injections or implants. In a trial it reduced the time taken for testosterone to fall and saw a decrease in major cardiac events (such as heart attack and stroke). See more here

New scan finds PCa ‘hiding’ cells

A test that can locate PCa cells wherever they are has been approved in the US. But approval applies only to testing at two universities so far. See more here (Dec ’20).

Good news re Olaparib

Olaparib has given new hope to men with incurable PCa, says the Daily Mail in this article.

Big change in PCa diagnosis

The biggest diagnostic development in PCa diagnosis for 50 years – that came about when NICE advised that all men at risk of PCa should have an MRI before a biopsy. The change has had a worldwide effect. See more here

‘Nanoparticles kill cancer’

Scientists have created a “Trojan horse” that sneaks nanoparticles into cancer cells and causes them to self-destruct. The research is still in its early days, but the new method has already proved to be effective at killing cancer cells in a petri dish and reducing tumour growth in mice. See more

Cancer blood test trialled

A new blood test which might be able to detect 50 cancers is being trialled by the NHS. More here. And two professors have made a discovery that could turn cancer into a treatable disease (Sept ’20). See more here. And minscule robots can seek out cancer.cells and destroy them More here

Check your risk in 30 seconds!

An online 30-second risk checker has been launched which men are encouraged to take –  see here And a Prostate Cancer Research team are using machine learning to develop a new way to classify PCa and separate the “tigers” from the “pussycats” (Sept ’20). More here And a US study demonstrated the highest accuracy to date in recognising and characterising PCa using artificial intelligence (July ’20). More here Also a new blood test for PCa is producing 99% accuracy – the best yet. More here And a new 15-minute ‘game-changing’ test is announced here

Abiraterone plea heard; deaths up

NICE agreed to an appeal by Prostate Cancer UK to reverse its decision to restrict abiraterone for advanced PCa (Jul ’20). See more here. UK deaths from PCa exceeded 12,000 in 2019 for the first time and it overtook breast cancer as the most common cancer (June ’20). See more here. But the UK death rate from this cancer was expected to fall by nearly 10 per cent in 2020. See more here  And a new type of immune cell which kills most cancers has been discovered. More info here  Screening: An expert explained why finding a suitable method is vital but is difficult. More here

Hormone treatment and Covid-19

Hormone treatment might offer some protection from Covid-19, it’s reported. See more here And it can make PCa worse, this study finds.  An online survey aiming to shed more light on the experience of PCa patients on this therapy is being conducted via this link And a London college has developed an online intervention to support men with PCa who have ongoing fatigue and is recruiting patients to take part. Information here. And an oil-based oral formulation has been found that not only enables a smaller dose of abiraterone to be effective but also has the potential to dramatically reduce possible side effects (Jun ’20). See more here

Chemo swapped for precision drugs

Advanced PCa patients can take enzalutamide or abirerone at home instead of going into hospital for chemotherapy, NHS England says. It will relieve pressure on the NHS. The drugs are smarter, kinder treatments and could extend the lives of many more men, it’s said (May ’20). See more here: And a new treatment is being tested that could extend the lives of men with advanced prostate cancer, by killing cancer in the prostate despite the disease having spread. The nationwide Atlanta trial, at Imperial College London, was recruiting 918 newly-diagnosed men. Read more here.  And positive results have been reported from a trial that tested the PARP-inhibitor olaparib (Lynparza) in patients with metastatic castration-resistant PCa who have alterations in certain DNA damage repair genes. Roughly 20-30% of these patients harbour these gene mutations in their tumours and thus may benefit from olaparib.

Tracking down tumours

A radical ‘seek and destroy’ treatment could extend the lives of thousands of men with advanced PCa. The approach is described by experts as ‘game changing’ (Jun ’19). See more at

Cancer can be detected much earlier

The first signs of cancer can appear decades before diagnosis, scientists have found – a discovery that could revolutionise treatment (Feb ’20). See more here. And Public Health England has published a statistical bulletin on survival rates for many types of cancer based on recent data. It stressses the importance of early diagnosis. A summary is here with a link to the full report

Patient guide ‘good source of info’

Prostate Cancer Foundation’s 2019 Patient Guide is said to be one of the best sources of information from diagnosis to survival of PCa. Download it for free here.  Our New Research page is updated regularly.

Drugs approved and a PCa ‘killer’

The NHS confirmed that the chemotherapy drug docetaxel will be made available to prostate cancer patients as soon as they are diagnosed instead of having to wait until other treatments stop working. See. And NICE has approved a new drug, Darolutamide, as an option for treating hormone-relapsed PCa in men at high risk of developing metastatic disease. It is among some exciting potential new ways to treat and diagnose PCa that are being developed. See more here Also scientists have discovered that a natural insecticide kills advanced PCa cells. See more here More news on the newsletter page.