New target for prostate cancer therapy

Image: Prostate duct with blue/grey staining showing the presence of miR-27a in cells lining the duct. Researchers at Imperial College London have discovered a molecule that plays an important role in driving prostate cancer growth, and could be a target for new therapies. About 36,000 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer each year in the UK, making it the most common cancer in men. The cancer depends on male hormones to progress, as these hormones stimulate the cancer cells to divide, enabling the tumour to grow. The new study, published in Human Molecular Genetics , found that male hormones increase the production of a molecule called miR-27a in prostate cancer cells in the laboratory, and that this molecule stimulates the cells to grow. An inhibitor of miR-27a halved the growth rate of prostate cancer cells, suggesting that such a molecule might have therapeutic potential. miR-27a belongs to a class of molecules called microRNAs - short strands of genetic material which are increasingly understood to play an important role in regulating gene activity.