Research Achievements
In recent years, Orchid researchers have significantly advanced understanding of male cancers. This page summarises their research achievements.
We would like to thank all our researchers for the valuable work that they have done to help men with male cancer.
Better understanding the molecular mechanisms of penile cancer. Their work has shown which tumours are related to the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) and which tumours are more likely to spread and need early treatment.
- Showing which tumours require chemotherapy and which tumours do not.
- Discovering a new set of benign tumours which do not need treatment.
- The introduction of the single shot carboplatin regime following surgery instead of the more toxic radiotherapy as the standard treatment for this stage of testicular cancer.
- Discovery of a damaged gene, ZDHHC14, in testicular and prostate cancer.
- Discovery that testicular cancer is a greater risk for people with HIV.
- New, highly successful treatments for aggressive testicular cancers, contributing to the high survival rate for this type of cancer.
- Collecting drug resistant cases of testicular cancer from previous clinical trials, in collaboration between the Medical Research Council Clinical Trials Unit.
- Treatment using chemotherapy in hormone resistant patients, enabling intermittent hormone therapy to be reintroduced.
- Identifying different genomic changes in prostate cancer between Chinese and Western patients and research into genetic risk factors.
- Identifying which cancers do not spread throughout the body, enabling many more men to be treated with active surveillance.
- Conducting new research into advanced tumours to show which need more intense treatment.
- Finding that circulating tumour cells (CTCs) can be used as a non-invasive way to diagnose prostate cancer, especially aggressive prostate cancers needing immediate treatment.
- Developing a circulating prostate cancer prognosis biomarker using megakaryocytes, cells that produce blood platelets. A patent has been awarded for this work which will help scientists to understand how prostate cancer progresses within the body.
Please help maintain the Robert Lane Tissue Bank
We need regular funding so that we can continue to maintain The Robert Lane Tissue Bank to fund further research. We would be so grateful for any support you can give us.
Donate here.
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