Models of Advanced Prostate Cancer
Group Leader:
Prof Imran Ahmad
Prostate cancer (PC) is a leading cause of cancer mortality in men in the western world. Identifying and understanding the pathways that drive advanced and treatment-resistant PC will provide important information that will allow prognostication and individualised patient treatments.

Lab Reports

Recent Publications

Lab Members
Recent Publications
2026
Lovegrove CE, Geraghty R, Ahmad I, Leung HY, Turney B. Trends in kidney stone disease: a 5-year update of stone management in England and Scotland. BJU Int. 2026;138(4):620–629.
Sahni DS, Xian JSY, Spicchiale CF, Dutto L, Ahmad I. Catheter strategy and functional recovery after robotic prostatectomy: a systematic review of suprapubic versus urethral drainage. J Robot Surg. 2026(1).
Sahni DS, Kingsmore DB, Ahmad I, Nadeem M, Aitken E. Lower Urinary Tract Dysfunction in Renal Transplant Candidates: A Scoping Review of Assessment Methods and Post-Transplant Urological Outcomes. Neurourol Urodyn. 2026.
2025
Dinneen E, Almeida-Magana R, Al-Hammouri T, Pan S, Leurent B, Haider A, Freeman A, Roberts N, Brew-Graves C, Grierson J, Clow R, Williams N, Aning J, Walton T, Persad R, Oakley N, Ahmad I, Dutto L, Briggs T, Allen C, Tandogdu Z, Adshead J, Oxley J, Kelly J, Shaw G. Effect of NeuroSAFE-guided RARP versus standard RARP on erectile function and urinary continence in patients with localised prostate cancer (NeuroSAFE PROOF): a multicentre, patient-blinded, randomised, controlled phase 3 trial. Lancet Oncol. 2025;26(4):447-458.
Hartley A, Galbraith LCA, Shaw R, Tibbo A, Veeratterapillay R, Wilson L, Heer R, Blyth K, Leung H, Ahmad I. Loss of ARID1A accelerates prostate tumourigenesis with a proliferative collagen-poor phenotype through co-operation with AP1 subunit cFos. Br J Cancer. 2025.
Ibrahim I, Kouli O, Ilangovan S, Sneddon M, Nalagatla S, Marshall C, Dutto L, Leung HY, Ahmad I. Impact of Centralisation of Radical Prostatectomy Driven by the Introduction of Robotic Systems on Positive Surgical Margin and Biochemical Recurrence in pT2 Prostate Cancer. Cancer Med. 2025;14(2):e70514.
2024
Beijert IJ, Hagberg O, Gårdmark T, Holmberg L, Häggström C, Johnston A, Trail M, Hamid S, Dreyer BA, Padovani L, Garau R, Hasan R, Ahmad I, Hendry D, Compérat EM, Burger M, Rouprêt M, Gontero P, Ribal MJ, van der Kwast TH, Babjuk M, Sylvester RJ, Mariappan P, Liedberg F, van Rhijn BWG. The Importance of Being Grade 3: A Plea for a Three-tier Hybrid Classification System for Grade in Primary Non-muscle-invasive Bladder Cancer. Eur Urol. 2024;86(5):391-399.
Mariappan P, Johnston A, Trail M, Hamid S, Hollins G, Dreyer BA, Ramsey S, Padovani L, Garau R, Enriquez JG, Boden A, Maresca G, Simpson H, Hasan R, Sharpe C, Thomas BG, Chaudhry AH, Khan RS, Bhatt JR, Ahmad I, Nandwani GM, Dimitropoulos K, Makaroff L, Shaw J, Graham C, Hendry D. Achieving Benchmarks for National Quality Indicators Reduces Recurrence and Progression in Non-muscle-invasive Bladder Cancer. Eur Urol Oncol. 2024;7(6):1327-1337.
2023
Bennett SS, Leung HY, Ahmad I. A cohort analysis of patients receiving neoadjuvant androgen deprivation therapy prior to robot-assisted laparoscopic prostatectomy during the Covid-19 pandemic. J Clin Urol. 2023;16:131-139.
Taggart R, Dutto L, Leung HY, Salji M, Ahmad I. A contemporary analysis of disease upstaging of Gleason 3 + 3 prostate cancer patients after robot-assisted laparoscopic prostatectomy. Cancer Med. 2023.
Tibbo AJ, Hartley A, Vasan R, Shaw R, Galbraith L, Mui E, Leung HY, Ahmad I. MBTPS2 acts as a regulator of lipogenesis and cholesterol synthesis through SREBP signalling in prostate cancer. British Journal of Cancer. 2023;128: 1991–1999
Hartley A, Ahmad I. The role of PPARγ in prostate cancer development and progression. Br J Cancer. 2023;128:940-945.
2022
Catto JWF, Khetrapal P, Ricciardi F, Ambler G, Williams NR, Al-Hammouri T, Khan MS, Thurairaja R, Nair R, Feber A, Dixon S, Nathan S, Briggs T, Sridhar A, Ahmad I, Bhatt J, Charlesworth P, Blick C, Cumberbatch MG, Hussain SA, Kotwal S, Koupparis A, McGrath J, Noon AP, Rowe E, Vasdev N, Hanchanale V, Hagan D, Brew-Graves C, Kelly JD. Effect of Robot-Assisted Radical Cystectomy With Intracorporeal Urinary Diversion vs Open Radical Cystectomy on 90-Day Morbidity and Mortality Among Patients With Bladder Cancer: A Randomized Clinical Trial. Jama. 2022;327:2092-2103.
Dinneen E, Allen C, Strange T, Heffernan-Ho D, Banjeglav J, Lindsay J, Mulligan J-P, Briggs T, Nathan S, Sridhar A, Grierson J, Haider A, Panayi C, Patel D, Freeman A, Aning J, Persad R, Ahmad I, Dutto L, Oakley N, Ambrosi A, Parry T, Kasivisvanathan V, Giganti F, Shaw G, Punwani S. Negative mpMRI Rules Out Extra-Prostatic Extension in Prostate Cancer before Robot-Assisted Radical Prostatectomy. Diagnostics. 2022;12:1057.
Sooriakumaran P, Wilson C, Rombach I, Hassanali N, Aning J, A DL, Cathcart P, Eden C, Ahmad I, Rajan P, Sridhar A, Bryant RJ, Elhage O, Cook J, Leung H, Soomro N, Kelly J, Nathan S, Donovan JL, Hamdy FC. Feasibility and safety of radical prostatectomy for oligo-metastatic prostate cancer: the Testing Radical prostatectomy in men with prostate cancer and oligo-Metastases to the bone (TRoMbone) trial. BJU Int. 2022;130:43-53.
2021
Galbraith LCA, Mui E, Nixon C, Hedley A, Strachan D, MacKay G, Sumpton D, Sansom OJ, Leung HY, Ahmad I. PPAR-gamma induced AKT3 expression increases levels of mitochondrial biogenesis driving prostate cancer. Oncogene. 2021;40:2355-2366.
Ntala C, Salji M, Salmond J, Officer L, Teodosio AV, Blomme A, McGhee EJ, Powley I, Ahmad I, Kruithof-de Julio M, Thalmann G, Roberts E, Goodyear CS, Jamaspishvili T, Berman DM, Carlin LM, Le Quesne J, Leung HY. Analysis of Prostate Cancer Tumor Microenvironment Identifies Reduced Stromal CD4 Effector T-cell Infiltration in Tumors with Pelvic Nodal Metastasis. Eur Urol Open Sci. 2021;29:19-29.
Tan WS, Arianayagam R, Khetrapal P, Rowe E, Kearley S, Mahrous A, Pal R, Fowler W, Heer R, Elajnaf M, Douglas-Moore J, Leyshon Griffiths TR, Voss J, Wilby D, Kadhi OA, Noel J, Vasdev N, McKay A, Ahmad I, Abu-Nayla I, et al. Major Urological Cancer Surgery for Patients is Safe and Surgical Training Should Be Encouraged During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Multicentre Analysis of 30-day Outcomes. Eur Urol Open Sci. 2021;25:39-43
Hartley A, Leung HY, Ahmad I. Targeting the BAF complex in advanced prostate cancer. Expert Opinion on Drug Discovery. 2021;16:173-181.
2020
Loveridge CJ, Slater S, Campbell KJ, Nam NA, Knight J, Ahmad I, Hedley A, Lilla S, Repiscak P, Patel R, Salji M, Fleming J, Mitchell L, Nixon C, Strathdee D, Neilson M, Ntala C, Bryson S, Zanivan S, Edwards J, Robson CN, Goodyear CS, Blyth K, Leung HY. BRF1 accelerates prostate tumourigenesis and perturbs immune infiltration. Oncogene. 2020; 39:1797–1806
Mevel R, Steiner I, Mason S, Galbraith LCA, Patel R, Fadlullah MZH, Ahmad I, Leung HY, Oliveira P, Blyth K, Baena E, Lacaud G. RUNX1 marks a luminal castration resistant lineage established at the onset of prostate development. eLife. 2020;9:e60225.
Patel R, Brzezinska EA, Repiscak P, Ahmad I, Mui E, Gao M, Blomme A, Harle V, Tan EH, Malviya G, Mrowinska A, Loveridge CJ, Rushworth LK, Edwards J, Ntala C, Nixon C, Hedley A, Mackay G, Tardito S, Sansom OJ, Leung HY. Activation of beta-catenin cooperates with loss of Pten to drive AR-independent castration-resistant prostate cancer. Cancer research. 2020; 80: 576-590
2018
Patel R, Fleming J, Mui E, Loveridge C, Repiscak P, Blomme A, Harle V, Salji M, Ahmad I, Teo K, Hamdy FC, Hedley A, van den Broek N, Mackay G, Edwards J, et al. Sprouty2 loss-induced IL6 drives castration-resistant prostate cancer through scavenger receptor B1. EMBO Mol Med 2018; 10: e8347
Ahmad I, Sansom OJ. Role of Wnt signalling in advanced prostate cancer. J Pathol 2018; 245: 3-5
Galbraith L, Leung HY, Ahmad I. Lipid pathway deregulation in advanced prostate cancer. Pharmacol Res 2018; 131: 177-84
2017
Loveridge, CJ, Mui EJ, Patel R, Tan EH, Ahmad I, Welsh M, Galbraith J, Hedley A, Nixon C, Blyth K, Sansom O, Leung HY. Increased T cell infiltration elicited by Erk5 deletion in a Pten-deficient mouse model of prostate carcinogenesis. Canc Res 2017; 77: 3158–68
Loveridge, CJ, van’t Hof RJ, Charlesworth G, King A, Tan EH, Rose L, Daroszewska A, Prior A, Ahmad I, Welsh M, Mui EJ, Ford C, Salji M, Sansom O, Blyth K, Leung HY. Analysis of Nkx3.1:Cre-driven Erk5 deletion reveals a profound spinal deformity which is linked to increased osteoclast activity. Sci Rep 2017; 7: 1324
Salji, M, Hendry, J, Patel, A, Ahmad, I, Nixon, C and Leung, HY. Peri-prostatic fat volume measurement as a predictive tool for castration resistance in advanced prostate cancer. Eur Urol Focus. 2017; 4: 858–866
Tan WS, Lamb BW, Tan MY, Ahmad I, Sridhar A, Nathan S, Hines J, Shaw G, Briggs TP, Kelly JD. In-depth analysis of complications following Robot-assisted radical cystectomy with intracorporeal urinary diversion. Eur Urol Focus. 2017; 3: 273–9
2016
Ahmad I, Mui E, Galbraith L, Patel R, Tan EH, Salji M, Rust AG, Repiscak P, Hedley A, Markert E, Loveridge C, van der Weyden L, Edwards J, Sansom OJ, Adams DJ, Leung HY. Sleeping Beauty screen reveals Pparg activation in metastatic prostate cancer. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 2016; 113: 8290-5
Research Scientist
Richa Vasan*
Graduate Student
Poppy Brown*
Graduate Student
Zhangdong Jiang
I am Zhangdong Jiang, a PhD student working on how mitochondria contribute to tumorigenesis and treatment resistance in prostate cancer. I am from China, where I completed my undergraduate degree in clinical medicine and master's in surgery with a focus on urology at Xi'an Jiaotong University. Outside of the lab, I enjoy traveling around, reading, and practicing calligraphy.
Graduate Student
Michael Jacques
I’m Michael Jacques, a PhD student in the Ahmad and Vande Voorde labs working on understanding the link between obesity and prostate cancer, and exploring potential therapeutic strategies for managing both simultaneously. I completed my undergraduate degree in Pharmacology at the University of Leeds, including an industrial placement year at AstraZeneca. Outside of the lab, I enjoy football, the gym, walking and travelling.
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