The discovery unlocks the ability to flick a switch in the cancer cells, allowing the body’s immune system to fight alongside existing treatments.
The most commonly diagnosed cancer in Australia, prostate cancer can often spread.
When it gets to the bones, it becomes undetectable and is able to spread through the body without resistance from the immune system.
But researchers from the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre think they’ve found a way to put those cancer cells back on the radar.
It’s hoped the discovery will pave the way to being able to identify how aggressive a patient’s cancer cells will be and allow for more targeted treatment.
Professor Jeff Dunn from the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia said the research could be a “game changer”.
“If we can stop the cancer spreading we have a much better chance of treating it, and even if it does spread if we can understand a bit more about its biology and whether it’s aggressive or not, once again we have a much better chance,” Dunn said.
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Six years since being diagnosed with stage four prostate cancer, which had already started spreading, Queensland father David Webber says he’s still alive thanks to a previous breakthrough in hormone therapy.
Now battling the disease again, he’s thankful for the tireless efforts of researchers, and the donations which fund their work.
“It gives men like me hope and we need hope, it’s tricky balancing a diagnosis and how serious it is – you don’t want to be in denial – with the hope of surviving much longer,” he said.
His message to other men is simple: go see your doctor if you have any worries.
“We ignore little things, we say ‘she’ll be right’,” he said.
Symptoms include frequent urination, pain while urinating, blood in the urine or semen, a weak stream, pain in the back or pelvis and weak legs or feet.
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