Major Milestones

Landmark discoveries (selected)

1995 – Discovery of the VGSC and its role in promoting invasiveness in rat PCa

1997 – Confirmation of the expression and function of the VGSC in human PCa

2001 – Discovery of galvanotaxis (directional response of small electrical fields) in cancer cells

2002 – Discovery of the VGSC and its role in promoting invasiveness in human BCa

2005 – Production and validation of a polyclonal antibody (NESOpAb) specific for the neonatal splice variant of Nav1.5 (nNav1.5)

2005 – Demonstration that the ‘culprit’ VGSC in human BCa cells and tissues is nNav1.5

2006 – First demonstration of the anti-invasive effect of a dietary agent (‘omega-3 fish oil’) occurring via VGSC; later studies demonstrated similar effects for resveratrol and

2006 – Discovery of activity-dependent regulation of VGSC expression in prostate and breast cancer

2007 – Confirmation by gene silencing that the ‘culprit’ VGSC in human BCa cells and tissues is nNav1.5

2007 – First demonstration that VGSC expression is controlled by a major cancer-promoting growth factor (“epidermal growth factor”)

2010 – Demonstration of the regulation of VGSC expression in breast cancer by estrogen

2012 – Confirmation of the role of VGSC in metastasis in vivo

2013 – Proposal that the role of the VGSC occurs through its persistent current component and that ranolazine can serve as an anti-metastatic drug

2014 – Formalization of the CELEX hypothesis – that metastasis has the hallmarks of membrane excitability

2014 – Discussion of the role of the VGSC in use of local anaesthetic during cancer surgery to inhibit disease recurrence

2015 – Demonstration that common pain killers given to cancer patients can impact upon the cancer process itself.

Neuroscience Solutions to Cancer

Cancer is a complex disease, like a ‘pathological universe’! The cancer research supported PCRF is unique, originating from 25 years’ of experience on the brain…

Publications

The research supported by PCRF is peer-reviewed and routinely published in international scientific and medical journals. A full list can be seen here.