Genitourinary cancers

Why we focus on genitourinary cancers

Genitourinary cancers include prostate cancer, kidney cancer, bladder cancer, testicular cancer and cancers of the penis. More than 48,000 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer every year in the UK, and testicular cancer is the most common tumour in young men between the ages of 15 and 35 years. Despite high five-year survival rates for testicular (95%) and prostate (over 80%) cancer, collectively these malignancies account for about 15% of cancer deaths in males in the UK. Therefore, it remains important to improve our knowledge of the biology of these diseases, and so identify targets for new and novel therapies, particularly for chemoresistance.

What we do
  • Establish and maintain a male urogenital cancer tissue bank
  • Identify critical genes in testicular tumour cisplatin‑resistance using genome-wide analysis
  • Identify key biomarkers in penile cancer and investigate the  role of HPV in its development
  • Focus on resistance mechanisms to targeted therapies used to treat renal cancer
  • Investigate (in vitro and in vivo) the therapeutic potential and resistance mechanisms of HER 1-4, FGF-2 and Src-targeted therapy in bladder and renal cancer, and the role of ASS1
  • Run clinical trials for optimised chemotherapy of testicular tumours
  • Run translational clinical trials investigating novel targeted and immune therapies
  • Run clinical trials for new treatments for bladder and renal cancer.
Major Funders
Major Funders
  • Orchid
  • Association for International Cancer Research
  • Cancer Research UK
  • GlaxoSmithKline
  • Medical Research Council
  • Novartis Pharmaceuticals UK Ltd
Key Publications