A UK based team of scientists and doctors have found a way to slow the development and spread of prostate cancer by stopping certain genes from becoming active.According to research published online in Oncogene, the team from Imperial College London, Cancer Research UK and Hammersmith Hospital have found a way to stop the development of cancer cells in the lab by limiting the effects of the androgen hormone and the genes which are activated by it. They have developed a way to silence these genes using an androgen receptor (AR) repressor, delivered by gene therapy.Androgen is a hormone which is responsible for male characteristics and the development and function of male sexual organs. Scientists know that AR is active in virtually all prostate cancers, and the gene from the AR is frequently mutated.Professor Jonathan Waxman, from Imperial College London and Hammersmith Hospital, and one of the researchers, comments: “Currently prostate cancer patients receive hormone therapy which stops the androgen receptor from producing testosterone, but this new therapy could prove much more effective in stopping the development of cancer.
