Investigating the relationship between obesity, lean-body mass and prostate cancer to identify new putative biomarkers

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer and the second most common cause of cancer death among males in UK.

According to the National Health Service and the American Cancer Society, the aetiology of prostate cancer is not well elucidated.

In the last few decades, researchers identified several risk factors that might increase the chance of prostate tumorigenesis, mainly related to lifestyle factors, body size measures and genetic components such as risk loci identified through Genome-Wide Association Studies (GWAS). However, the full picture remains unclear and the current findings have been difficult to translate into the clinic.

We plan to use big data, machine learning and epidemiological approaches to investigate risk factors for prostate cancer with the ultimate aim of optimising patient care.

Pictured is Mr Matteo Di Giovannantonio, Department of Oncology, University of Oxford..