 |  |  | | | £900,000 CASH BOOST TO CANCER RESEARCH IN OXFORD | | | | |
| |  Dr Croucher
Release Date: 12th February 2002
The UK's leading blood cancer charity, Leukaemia Research Fund (LRF), is investing £900,000 to create a major new research programme at the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre in Oxford. The award ensures that scientists from the University of Oxford will be leading a major research initiative in to a cancer called myeloma, which affects 3,000 people in Britain each year.
One of the most devastating features of myeloma - a cancer of the plasma cells in the bone marrow - is painful bone destruction and fractures, which significantly affect the patient's quality of life.
"Myeloma is a distressing disease - related to leukaemia - which affects a very significant number of people," says Dr Peter Croucher, who leads the new programme. "It is unusual because it is in part encouraged by a complex relationship between the cancer cells and normal bone cells. It is a relationship we are at last beginning to understand.
"The establishment of a laboratory like this is clearly a crucial development in the treatment of myeloma," Dr Croucher says.
The goal of this research is very simple, to find a way to break the biochemical loop that causes this bone disease. "We know that myeloma cells somehow sabotage the molecules that regulate bone regeneration. Over the next five years we will look for targets which may enable us to stop these rogue cancer cells causing this devastating problem," he adds.
One patient who understands the importance of this research is myeloma patient Andrew Taylor from Knowl Hill near Maidenhead. The 49-year-old - who recently moved from Henley in Oxfordshire - will today (Tuesday) present a cheque for £900,000 on behalf of the charity to Dr Croucher.
Andrew - who was diagnosed with myeloma in 1998 - is one of many patients that have been treated by doctors at the John Radcliffe Hospital, who are collaborating with Dr Croucher.
"For somebody like me - who is undergoing treatment for this terrible disease - it is such a boost to see essential research into myeloma receiving long-term support," Andrew explains.
LRF Scientific Director, Dr David Grant, comments: "This enormous commitment to the research in Oxford is a sign of the importance the LRF places on finding better treatments for patients with myeloma. Improvements in technology and research techniques means we are now in a position to find out more about the way this complicated disease develops.
"While the best thing would be to eradicate this disease, it is crucial that research also ensures that myeloma patients can have a better quality of life," he adds.
Although we may think that our bones never change throughout our life, they are in fact constantly being reshaped and remodelled. Our bones are regulated by two special cells - osteoblasts which create new bone, and osteoclasts - which remove bone.
Unfortunately myeloma cells can upset this fine balance. They encourage osteoclasts to destroy bone whilst preventing osteoblasts from rebuilding bone as they would normally in a healthy person.
Dr Croucher and Professor Graham Russell are seeking to overcome this problem. They have evidence that a protein called Rank ligand may stimulate overproduction of osteoclasts, and therefore lead to bone destruction.
"We need to find out whether this is the key to this nasty bone problem," says Dr Croucher. "If it proves to be the determining factor, we will be looking at ways of blocking the action of the protein in myeloma patients.
"In the long-term, we hope that evidence will show that by overcoming bone destruction we will also be able to slow the spread of myeloma cells, helping patients to live longer with a better quality of life." Dr Croucher adds.
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