A leading researcher from Philadelphia USA, Professor Katherine High, is examining the obstacles to successful gene therapy in human patients with haemophilia. She hopes that the problems may be overcome in the next five years to develop a successful gene transfer approach for sufferers of haemophilia.

"It has taken approximately 5 “ 8 years to move from a cure for haemophilia in mice to a cure in dogs. This has been achieved by multiple gene transfer strategies. Clinical studies have identified which aspects of gene transfer therapy in dogs are directly applicable in humans and have identified potential problems, such as mode of delivery, which must be overcome before applying this approach in humans," said High.

Professor High will review these exciting findings and the steps to achieving a successful outcome in humans at the XXth Congress of the International Society on Thrombosis & Haemostasis in Sydney this week.

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"This represents a real advance for the future management of prostate cancer," said Professor Colin Cooper, The Grand Charity of Freemasons' Chair of Molecular Biology at The Institute of Cancer Research. "Eventually we hope to be able to distinguish the tigers - aggressive tumours requiring treatment - from the pussycats - non aggressive tumours which can be monitored for many years without treatment. Ultimately this could prevent thousands of men from having to undergo radical surgery, which can have devastating effects on their day to day lives."

Prostate cancer is now the most common cancer to affect men in the UK. More than 30,000 men in the UK are diagnosed with the disease and almost 10,000 men die from the disease each year.

Professor Peter Rigby, Chief Executive at The Institute of Cancer Research comments:

"This demonstrates the real progress we are making in the field of prostate cancer research. Since discovering the E2F3 gene as a marker of prostate cancer aggressiveness our research team has been committed to developing a test for the gene. The development of this technique is a significant step forward in prostate cancer management and should ultimately improve thousands of men's lives."

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