UPDATE - Issue 32 - Winter 2008
Getting Back to the Roots
Ben Grey explains research that we are supporting into how stem cells affect BPH
Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH) affects approximately half the male population over the age of 50 years. Symptoms relate to problems passing urine and can significantly affect a patient's quality of life. Treatment is available in the form of medication or surgery. However, such treatments deal with the consequences of BPH rather than the root cause.
Prostate stem cells are believed to be responsible for the control of normal growth and the repair of damage within the prostate. Alterations to the genes responsible for controlling these stem cells are in turn believed to be the cause of the uncontrolled proliferation of cells that subsequently results in enlargement of the prostate and the symptoms that are seen in BPH.
Ben Grey MRCS, clinical Fellow in Urological Oncology, University of Manchester, Paterson Institute for Cancer Research
Identification of stem cells for further study has proven very difficult as they are rare and, as yet, there have been no satisfactory biological markers to aid their isolation for further study. We have successfully adapted a technique called the Hoechst dye efflux assay to combat this problem.
We have already demonstrated that the subpopulation of cells isolated by this technique is enhanced for characteristics that are fundamental to stem cells. Using specialist technology called Affymetrix microarray, our aim is to characterise the genetic differences between the stem cell and non stem cell populations and identify new biological markers that would aid identification of stem cells for further study.
Professor Noel Clarke FRCS (Urol), one of our medical panel who will be supervising Ben's research
Furthermore, we aim to learn how normal prostate tissue function becomes disordered and leads to diseases like BPH and prostate cancer. A greater understanding of these key genetic control mechanisms in normal and diseased prostates will identify new markers to aid the diagnosis of BPH and its differentiation from other prostatic diseases.
Finally, by directly targeting stem cells and the pathways involved in disease, the root cause of BPH development and propagation can be addressed and the efficacy and specificity of treatments markedly improved.