A Keele University researcher has been awarded funding from Prostate Cancer UK to develop a new method for identifying men at risk of prostate cancer, potentially reducing the need for invasive or repeated testing.
The project, led by Dr Sarah Gosling, aims to improve how doctors detect high-grade intraepithelial neoplasia (HGPIN) – abnormal changes in prostate tissue that can sometimes develop into cancer. Currently, one in four cases of HGPIN progress to prostate cancer, but there is no way to predict which cases will develop in this way.
As a result, men with HGPIN often undergo lifelong monitoring, including repeated biopsies or prostate specific antigen (PSA) blood tests, which can cause distress and uncertainty. Dr Gosling’s research seeks to identify key markers that could indicate a patient’s risk level, allowing doctors to detect cancer earlier in some cases while reducing the need for repeated or invasive testing in others.
The study will investigate the structure of prostate tissue to understand how early-stage disease develops and progresses. The team will use X-ray diffraction, a technique that analyses how X-rays scatter when they hit a material, to reveal microscopic structural differences in prostate tissue. These differences could explain why some cases of HGPIN evolve into cancer while others do not.
Dr Gosling, a Postdoctoral Research Associate in Keele’s School of Chemical and Physical Sciences, said: “As cancer becomes more common, especially as people get older, it’s increasingly important to find better ways to detect it early and predict how it might progress. It is crucial to balance the risk of patients developing cancer with their quality of life, by finding new ways to determine which patients might need treatment.
“Our project will provide a new way to understand how cancer starts, with the work aiming to find new markers in tissue that can tell us how serious a HGPIN diagnosis might be and if cancer might form. Eventually, we hope this will help doctors and patients to decide on the best treatment plans. This work is not just about developing better tests, but also giving people more information to make decisions about their health.”
By enhancing early detection methods, Dr Gosling’s research could play a vital role in reducing unnecessary procedures, improving quality of life, and ensuring that men with prostate cancer receive timely and effective treatment.
Simon Grieveson, Assistant Director of Research at Prostate Cancer UK, said: “Not being able to tell whether their condition will develop into prostate cancer can be extremely distressing for men with HGPIN. Early detection of aggressive prostate cancer is absolutely critical and so this is a serious problem that we need to address.
“At Prostate Cancer UK, we are determined to fund research that will improve the accuracy of diagnosis and the effectiveness of treatments, to ultimately improve men’s lives. By looking at how cancer develops, this research could identify why certain men with HGPIN go on to develop prostate cancer and why others do not.
“We’re excited to be funding Dr Gosling’s work via our Career Acceleration Fellowships, and to be supporting the prostate cancer research efforts in the Midlands. This is especially important to us, as 8,030 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer each year in the region, with more than one in five diagnosed after their disease has spread and can no longer be cured. We eagerly look forward to seeing how Dr Gosling’s research progresses over the coming years and how it may contribute towards achieving more accurate and earlier diagnosis of prostate cancer.”
