Prostate cancer is distressingly common (diagnosed in 12% of men) and often fatal (9% of male cancer deaths). Prostate cancer has overtaken lung cancer to become the most common male cancer in the UK with 35,000 cases diagnosed each year and around 11,000 deaths. The incidence has doubled in the last 15 years, mainly due to increased use of serum prostate specific antigen (PSA) testing in healthy men. Despite its high incidence a number of critical problems remain.

We still know very little about what causes this disease. The incidence of prostate cancer is very high in the UK and in North America, but very low in many Asian counties including China. Individuals who migrate from Asia to the UK or to the USA develop a high incidence of prostate cancer in the first or second generation suggesting that a change to the indigenous diet may be linked to higher cancer incidence. However, the components of the diet responsible for the variation in cancer incidence remain unknown.

We are perfectly placed to solve this problem. The Norwich Research Park (insert link) plays host to The John Innes Centre (JIC) and The Institute for Food Research (IFR). These centres have active research programs that are highly relevant to drug development and to unravelling the links between diet and cancer. We will invest in developing a unique research program relevant to patients who have or may develop prostate cancer. The program will be led by Prof Colin Cooper, newly appointed to UEA thanks to the support of The 'Big-C'.

To support the development of this specific research please direct any gift to the Norwich Medical Research Building.