Prostate cancer research gets cash

Mar 6 2013

Research into the most common form of cancer in men is to receive a £500,000 funding boost.

The Scottish Government has teamed up the Prostate Cancer UK, a charity which has financial backing from the Movember Foundation, to provide the six-figure sum.

A match-funding agreement between the Government's Chief Scientist Office and the charity raised £450,000 and Prostate Cancer UK put in an additional £50,000.

The money is for a priority area of clinical research into prostate cancer, identifying the differences between aggressive and non-aggressive forms of the disease.

Health and Wellbeing Secretary Alex Neil said: "Prostate cancers range from slow-growing tumours to more aggressive tumours. Slow-growing tumours are common and may not cause any symptoms or shorten life, while aggressive tumours can be more difficult to treat.

"That is why Prostate Cancer UK and the Chief Scientist Office of the Scottish Government have agreed to provide funding for Scottish-led research projects that aim to advance knowledge of prostate cancer."

Breast cancer, the most common form of the disease in women, has a similar death rate to prostate cancer yet receives more then double the annual research spend, £853 compared with £417, according to figures published by Prostate Cancer UK in January.

Dr Iain Frame, director of research at Prostate Cancer UK, said: "Due to decades of underfunding and neglect, we still know far too little about why prostate cancer kills one man in the UK every hour. Working with our partners, the Movember Foundation, we have recently been able to triple our research spend to a record £25 million over the next three years.

"Whilst incredibly proud to be making these investments we remain acutely aware of how much more still needs to be done to get prostate cancer research on a level footing with other cancers, and crack the disease once and for all."

The Movember Foundation raises awareness and money for men's health, specifically prostate and testicular cancer, by encouraging men to grow a moustache for the month of November. Last year around 363,000 people raised £25.9 million in the UK during Movember.