Help Us Fight Prostate Cancer

Prostate Cancer Vaccine Appeal

Help Us To Fund Research Into Developing a Vaccine to Stop Prostate Cancer From Returning

We are excited to launch a £250,000 campaign to raise funds for a prostate cancer research project widely anticipated to be ‘game-changing’.

Work has begun to develop a vaccine to prevent the return of prostate cancer in men who have undergone a radical prostatectomy, the surgical removal of the prostate. Cancer vaccines have become an exciting area of research in recent years, and this new treatment could potentially save the lives of more than 1,500 men each year in the UK alone.

Dr Guy Simpson explains how the vaccine will prevent cancer returning in men that have undergone radical prostatectomies (video credit, Gregory Blake)

We have a proven track record of funding research and treatment of prostate cancer, raising more than £11 million since its formation in 1998.

During this time we have provided funds for research at the University of Surrey, leading directly to breakthroughs in the diagnosis and treatment of prostate and other urological cancers. The university team is one of the leading groups for immunotherapy research in the UK, and is recognised around the world for its work.

This latest initiative is part of the charity’s longstanding and ongoing support for the work of Dr. Nicola Annels and Dr. Guy Simpson and their team based at the University of Surrey.

A patent has been applied for the vaccine and Dr. Simpson has already proven that it works in the similar treatment of bladder cancer. This new research is required to see if the vaccine works as effectively for prostate cancer patients.

The research will focus on a ‘prime-boost’ vaccine strategy. The new cancer-killing virus, known as HSV5-15 developed by our team at the University of Surrey will be used as an immune ‘priming’ vaccine along with a prostate specific mRNA vaccine to ‘boost’ and maintain this immune response against the prostate.

mRNA vaccines have already proven to be revolutionary in preventing COVID, and this technology is promising similarly effective results in treating cancer tumours.

The vaccine trains the body’s immune system to recognise cancer cells so any that return after surgery can be hunted down and killed, reducing the risk of the disease coming back.  Around 5,000 radical prostatectomies are performed each year in the UK, but between 20% and 50% of men who have their prostates removed will have their cancer return, resulting in them undergoing further radiotherapy and/or hormone therapy.

This treatment is costly, time-consuming and can have unpleasant side effects, and is not always completely successful.

Your support will fund the continued research and development of the vaccine to prevent cancer returning in men that have undergone radical prostatectomies, the surgical removal of the prostate.

To support this and other projects that we run, please give a donation to our charity and help save mens lives.

Chairman Martin Davies describes the impact of the side effects he suffered from having radiotherapy after his prostate cancer returned and why we need a vaccine (video credit: Gregory Blake)

Your Questions Answered

  • What will the vaccine do?

    Once fully developed, the vaccine will prevent the return of cancer in men that have had their prostate removed.  It will, in effect ‘mop up’ any residual cancer cells that can be left behind after surgery.

  • What won’t it do?

    This is not a preventative vaccine as it cannot be used to prevent cancer from occurring in the first place.

  • Does the vaccine have a name?

    It not only has a name, HSV5-15, such is the level of confidence in its effectiveness, a patent for the vaccine has already been sought. Dr. Simpson has already

    proven that the vaccine works in preclinical models of bladder cancer, and now we need further research to see if it works just as effectively on prostate cancer.

  • Where will the funds be spent?

    The £250,000 will fund the research and development of the new vaccine, including researchers’ time and lab equipment.

  • Why fund this research?

    Only our team is working on the development of this technology, no one else is doing it.

  • When will it be ready for use?

    The initial research period is for 18 months, but the more money that we raise will have a significant effect on timescales.

  • When will it be ready for use?

    The initial research period is for 18 months, but the more money that we raise will have a significant effect on timescales.

  • What happens if the vaccine research is unsuccessful?

    No research programme is guaranteed success, but our track record, and the early results suggest that there is a strong likelihood of success, which would justify

    progressing the findings in this project to a clinical trial.

Meet the Team

Dr Nicola Annels
Dr Nicola AnnelsSenior Research Fellow, University of Surrey
Dr Annels, a cancer immunotherapy expert, has successfully combined cancer killing viruses with immune stimulating agents in both preclinical and clinical studies to treat bladder and advanced prostate cancers.
Dr Guy Simpson
Dr Guy SimpsonSenior Research Fellow, University of Surrey
Dr. Simpson specialises in developing cancer killing viruses for use as cancer treatments. He created the HSV5-15 virus that has already shown promising results in preclinical studies treating bladder cancer.