03/03/2010 by Steve Barclay.

I met up with Amanda McLean this week who is the Chief Executive of Prostate UK, to add my support to prostate cancer awareness month. It was a chance to learn more about the prevalence of prostate disease in North East Cambridgeshire, and to try and raise awareness of what men can do to be aware of their own prostate health.

Around 31,800 men in the Cambridgeshire Primary Care Trust area are likely to suffer from what is technically known as benign prostatic hyperplasia (a non cancerous enlargement of the prostate), with 23 men in every 100,000 suffering fatally from prostate cancer. Whilst many of those diagnosed with prostate cancer recover, we should not lose sight of the fact that nationally prostate cancer kills one man every hour in Britain. Early detection vastly improves the chances of successful treatment so education of the public and of healthcare professionals is vital.

I was surprised to learn from Amanda that one in two men will suffer from a prostate disease at some stage in their lives. Given that I am one of three brothers, such figures hit home. To find out more about the simple steps you can take to help prevent this, please visit their website at http://www.prostateuk.org/

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18/08/2009 by Steve Barclay.

A visit to the science laboratory of Cancer Research UK to see their cutting edge research in the fight against cancer.   My host Dr Clive da Costa is the Principal Scientific Officer for Cancer Research UK and provides an expert insight into the research being conducted.  It is hugely impressive.

Around 289,000 people each year in the UK face the shock of being diagnosed with cancer, and with over 200 different types of cancer the complexity of the challenge ahead for scientists like Dr da Costa is daunting.  It is a chance to learn more about the research being conducted, the challenges ahead, and what they would like MPs to do to support them.  This includes discussing the three stages of research, involving firstly research done here around the breakdown in particular cells, the second phase on the molecular pathway to help develop drugs from their research into something patients can use, and the third phase which is the clinical work done to test the cutting edge treatments developed.

Running a typical lab at the Research Institute costs £900,000 a year. It takes a great deal of fundraising.  We discuss not just funding, but also a number of other policy issues such as how cutting edge science can play a role in providing jobs and economic benefits, the fact that half of all cancers ca be prevented by changes to lifestyle (70% of lung cancer cases relate to smoking), and specific issues like the need to streamline and improve the gift aid process.

The slide below gives an example of the tumour cells viewed by scientists.  The photos are taken in the Mammalian Genetics Lab which focuses on molecular mechanisms of neurodengeration and cancer.

Neuronal tumour cell line:

A - cells under normal growth conditions

B - Activation of the MAP kinase pathway kills tumour cells

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