Jennifer Munkley Appeal

Jennifer's research answers the urgent need to stop prostate cancer spreading. Your support could fund her scientific investigations and move forward with improving the lives of patients.

When prostate cancer spreads to bones, men die sooner and experience severe pain and fractures. Dr Jennifer Munkley’s team aim to stop this from happening using an innovative sugar-targeting approach.

Whatever our weight, the cells in our bodies are coated with sugars. Cancer can make changes to these sugars to help itself survive, grow and spread.

Dr Munkley’s team have identified three particular ‘glycan sugars’ that are found at very high levels in men whose cancer has spread. This suggests that these sugars are important to the tumour, and that stopping them could be the basis of a new cancer treatment.

There are already existing drugs used to treat other diseases that can stop glycan sugars working. Dr Munkley’s team want to find out if these drugs can also be used to stop prostate cancer spreading.

To fund this groundbreaking research, support PCR today.

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A prostate cancer cell without its glycan sugars is like a bird without its feathers. If we can remove these feathers we can stop the prostate cancer growing and spreading.
Dr Jennifer Munkley
Lead researcher, Newcastle University

The research at a glance

1

Prostate cancer often spreads to bone. This can be very painful and there is currently no cure

2

Why and how prostate cancer spreads to bone are unanswered questions, but scientists do know that cancer can change the sugars that surround all of our cells

3

Jennifer’s team have identiﬁed three types of sugars found at high levels in tumours and blood from men with spread to bone

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These sugars make prostate cancers grow very fast and more likely to spread to bone

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This new knowledge provides an opportunity to develop treatments because drugs that target these sugars are already in use for other diseases

6

Jennifer’s team will try to test existing drugs to stop prostate cancer spreading to bone

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Dr Jennifer Munkley's research, along with our 11 other scientific teams, offer a real chance to improve patient outcomes. Our sights are set high and we won’t rest until we find better treatments . We welcome your support to realise our vision. Be part of our success and donate today to fund essential science.
Oliver Kemp
CEO, Prostate Cancer Research

This research is supported by a co-sponsored award from Prostate Cancer Research and The Mark Foundation for Cancer Research.

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