VITAL research originally funded by a Basingstoke-based charity is giving refreshed hope for more effective treatment of patients in the future with prostate cancer.

Recent news of a major breakthrough in prostate cancer diagnosis, which was aided by the Pelican Cancer Foundation and carried out at Basingstoke hospital, has revealed that through the use of multi-parametric MRI scans almost double the number of aggressive tumours could be detected.

The findings of the clinical study, which was carried out by former Pelican research fellow Hashim Ahmed in London and Basingstoke, could save more lives and prevent around 25,000 men in Britain from painful biopsies each year.

Initially Professor Ahmed received £300,000 funding from Pelican as a junior research fellow to carry out the three-year study into viability of using MRI scans to diagnose prostate cancer.

The original study into the treatment of the most common cancer in British men was seed-funded nine-years-ago by the Pelican Cancer Foundation – a charity based at The Ark medical centre which supports medical research and education to improve precision surgery, detection and treatment of bowel, liver, bladder and prostate cancers.

Professor Ahmed said: “The diagnosis part of the study was used to guide the treatment, with precision imagining from the MRI scans enabling us to pinpoint the cancerous cells much more effectively.”

He added: “Traditional biopsy testing to date has been very inaccurate because the samples of tissue are taken at random and we can’t see if cancers are present during the procedure. Our MRI scan results showed us if there was any cancer present. Where there is no significant cancer shown on the MRI scan, then those patients can safely avoid an immediate biopsy. Significant cancers can be treated earlier which could have a real impact on long-term survival.”

Professor Ahmed discovered that the scan images of the prostate were much more precise in locating the cancers.

His most recent study, which was funded by the National Institute of Health Research and run by the Medical Research Council Clinical Trials Unit, found that 93 per cent of aggressive prostate cancers were detected through MRI scans compared with just 48 per cent of cancers detected through traditional biopsies.

Pelican’s chief executive Sarah Crane added: “We are delighted to see the ground-breaking results of Hashim’s studies. The informed work of our former research fellow will make a positive impact on the diagnosis and resulting treatment of prostate cancer patients in the future if it becomes NHS clinical practice. It will make a real difference to so many lives.”

To find out more visit pelicancancer.org.uk