AN Oxford researcher has been handed almost £1m from Cancer Research UK to investigate a new form of treatment for prostate cancer that could be a "game-changer".

Dr Richard Bryant, a consultant urologist and surgeon, will use the cash injection to test the new way of treating amen with advanced or aggressive forms of prostate cancer alongside radiotherapy.

If his research proves successful, Dr Bryant believes it could be revolutionary for men diagnosed with the disease in the future.

He said: "It is highly exciting research and I feel that this could be a potential game-changer for radiotherapy treatment for men with prostate cancer.

"My hope is that it could lead to a step-change in the delivery of modern radiotherapy with the addition of a minimally invasive form of targeted surgery, and my aim would be to have early-phase clinical trials in patients within five years."

Dr Bryant, a consultant Oxford University's Nuffield Department of Surgical Sciences based in the John Radcliffe hospital in Headington, was awarded a clinician scientist fellowship, which supports cancer doctors carrying out research.

He will receive £847,242 over five years.

Dr Bryant said: "Radiotherapy can cure many cases of prostate cancer, but it can cause difficult side effects and it may not be able to successfully treat some patients – possibly because the cancer has already spread or because some patients have a particularly aggressive form of the disease.

"We know that radiotherapy can still be improved and this is where I hope that this project takes us.

"We want to see if we can combine radiotherapy with another novel treatment.

"If we can show that this is safe and achievable then it could lead to a reduction in the necessary radiotherapy dose currently given to men with prostate cancer, thereby reducing the side effects of treatment."

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men in the United Kingdom and about 500 men are diagnosed with the disease in Oxfordshire every year.