THERE was a time when sniffy medical opinion held that prostate cancer was “an insignificant disease of old men”. You were more likely to die with it (from old age) than from it, this view held.

In fact, it is one of the most common forms of the disease in men. More than 10,000 people die of it every year in the UK alone.

Thanks largely to the efforts of a team of scientists right here in York, however, the disease is now beginning to get the attention it deserves.

Professor Norman Maitland and his team at the Yorkshire Cancer Research Unit have made breakthrough after breakthrough in our understanding of prostate cancer in the last 20 years.

They identified stem cells in the prostate that acted as a “root” for the cancer, and from which it grew; they have found how to switch on genes in prostate cancer stem cells that help stop cancer cells spreading; and they even showed how luminous cells from a jellyfish could be used to detect human cancer cells deep within the body.

Today, we report that this amazing team has been awarded a £190,000 grant for a new line of research – looking at how a particular gene called latexin can work in the prostate to reduce the growth of tumours.

The team is responsible for world-leading research that has the potential to transform the way this type of cancer is treated. It is great to see that yet again it is getting the recognition and support it merits.