Tumour bank to help fight prostate cancer

NEW treatments for a disease which claims the lives of more than 500 Irishmen each year are hoped to be developed with the establishment of the country’s first prostate tumour bank.

Details of the new research facility were announced yesterday in conjunction with the formal launch of a new consortium on prostate cancer research involving medical experts from leading hospitals and educational centres.

It is estimated almost 400 samples of tumours from men with early stage and advance prostate cancers will be deposited with the tissue bank over the next three years.

Cancer specialists hope research on such tumours will provide valuable insight into the disease leading to new therapies to reduce prostate cancer-related deaths.

Prof Donal Hollywood, a senior oncologist at St Luke’s Hospital and TCD, said: “Not all cancers behave the same and there is no precise molecular understanding why tumours behave differently.”

He claimed the prostate cancer tumour bank would help doctors in their efforts to increase early detection of the disease as well as monitoring progress of various existing and developmental therapies.

The new consortium will consist of surgeons, pathologists, oncologists and scientists from the Mater, St Vincent, St James and St Luke’s hospitals as well as academic staff from UCD and TCD.

Doctors will also collect samples of blood and urine from patients.

On average, there are 1,150 new cases of the disease detected in Ireland every year, with incidence of prostate cancer believed to be growing at the rate of 5% per annum.

While most current testing for prostate cancer is done using a PSA (prostate specific antigen) sample, medical experts acknowledge that the test has some shortcomings for screening purposes.

Dr Bill Watson, senior lecturer at the Mater’s department of surgery, said: “This new research will allow us to come up with better markers that will allow us to detect the disease earlier and with more certainty than currently possible. If we detect the disease earlier, we will have a better chance of successfully treating and curing it.”

The new consortium is being part funded by a grant of €585,000 from the Irish Cancer Society.