A doctor has won £120,000 for research which could help stamp out the second most common form of cancer in men.

Dr Elena Klenova's research at Oxford University could be a vital step to preventing prostate cancer, which affects 19,000 men a year and kills more than half its victims within five years.

The Russian biochemist is studying how specific proteins change when a man is diagnosed with prostate cancer.

Dr Klenova is trying to discover whether the mutating protein, known as CTCF, is the cause of the disease and said the £121,278 grant, from the Association for International Cancer Research, will allow her to take the studies further. She said: "The basis of my research is observation and I want to find out more about this mutation."

The grant is one of three awards made by the AICR for prostate cancer research.

Chief executive Derek Napier said: "Prostate cancer is under-funded. It does not attract the attention or levels of research funding other cancers command. We aim to help address that by creating a special fund for research into prostate cancer.

"Our target is to raise £1m for that research."

Story date: Friday 10 December

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