Supported by BBC Radio 4

Following a fantastic broadcast (listen here!), and thanks to the fantastic support we’ve had, from the freemasons groups, rotary clubs and running clubs who spread the word, the celebrities who tweeted their support, and everyone who so generously donated, we raised an incredible £52,000 for the appeal within a month. We’ve had so many messages from men who’ve been diagnosed with prostate cancer, and from their families, who are desperate to see new treatments.

The appeal was covered in three press articles, including the Mail on Sunday which referred to PCRC’s scientist Christine Galustian’s work as a potential game changer for prostate cancer treatment. 11 celebrities tweeted in support of the appeal; TV presenter’s Philip Schofield, Susanna Reid, Jimmy Doherty, Claudia Winkleman & Jon Snow. Comedian David Schneider, Actor’s Stephen Fry and Simon Pegg, Choreographer Sir Matthew Bourne, Fashion Designer David Emanuel and Composer Andrew Lloyd Webber.

Building on this early success, we will run the appeal until the summer of 2019. A third of our target has been raised already: another £100,000 would allow Christine to complete her project, which will identify the most promising therapies to test in humans.

Comedian, writer and TV presenter Stephen Fry and adventurer and businessman Martin Dallison teamed up to create this appeal, to fund much-needed research into new treatments for prostate cancer. Martin wasn’t diagnosed until it was too late and the cancer had spread outside of his prostate to his bones. Martin very sadly passed away on November 19th. The radio 4 appeal provides an opportunity for him to prevent future generations of men from suffering what Martin went through.

Martin was always adamant that the Appeal would go ahead despite him being very ill at the time of recording. We are hugely grateful for everything he achieved for PCRC. We send our heartfelt condolences to all his family and friends.

Every year 47,000 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer with one in three men receiving the news their cancer is inoperable. Prostate Cancer Research Centre exists for these men.
We believe Christine’s work could have a massive impact for men with prostate cancer.

With support from King’s College London, Christine’s team has recently started working with a class of relatively new drugs called STING agonists, which they are looking at as a potential add-on to the IL-15 therapy supported by the appeal. A member of Christine’s team, Ana has shown that when the STING agonist is combined with IL-15 in the lab, 80-90% of prostate cancer cells are killed.

Christine is delighted that the appeal has gotten off to such a fantastic start, saying “My team and I wish to thank all the people who have donated to the Stephen and Martin appeal. Every penny is crucial to bring about this game-changing, and life changing treatment closer to clinical trials.”

Stephen Fry spoke about his diagnosis and treatment last Christmas. His openness about his experience has resulted in what’s been dubbed the ‘Fry Effect’ with the NHS seeing a significant increase in the number of men requesting PSA tests. In March this year Stephen also agreed to be a Patron for Prostate Cancer Research Centre’s Future 5 Campaign. Future 5 aims to raise enough money to fund five new research projects to effectively treat prostate cancer in the next five years.