A Bermudian doctor has won $70,000 in funding to run clinical trials for potentially life-saving cancer treatment after winning a virtual pitch competition.

Sheldon Holder, an assistant professor of pathology and laboratory medicine at Brown University in Rhode Island, where he is also a medical oncologist at the university’s cancer centre, was one of two winners in the contest run by the foundation Cures Within Reach.

His pitch proposed the repurposing of the drug Degarelix, used to treat prostate cancer, to treat bladder cancer in the same way – by blocking testosterone.

Dr Holder, who is originally from Pembroke and moved to the US to study after graduating from the Bermuda Institute, said: “This funding opportunity is different than most.

“Cures Within Reach funds drugs for repurposing clinical trials – they are already FDA [Food and Drug Administration] approved.

“It doesn’t have to be for cancer, but the researcher or the physician thinks that using the drug for a different disease might be beneficial. They are less expensive for a new drug since they are already approved – we know they are safe. It is a safeguard to see if it works for another disease type.

“I am very excited about being able to do this clinical trial. We have known for a long time that men develop bladder cancer more frequently than women.

“They used to think it was because of things like smoking as men used to smoke more than women or occupational hazards as they tended to work in industrial settings but it has been well documented that wasn’t the case because even when you control for that, the disparity still exists.

“Some think it’s because of testosterone levels – I think it is involved in the development of bladder cancer. The way we treat it now is chemotherapy is followed by surgery to remove the bladder.

“I also treat prostrate and we block testosterone but we never do that for bladder cancer. We will use a drug that we use in prostate and use it in bladder to lower their testosterone levels.”

Dr Holder said a pilot study involving about 32 volunteer patients would be conducted to get a signal as to whether the hypothesis is true.

If that is the case there will be a phase two study which will require a bigger grant and include volunteers numbering in the hundreds and collaboration with other cancer centres. The whole process might take at least four years, he said.

Asked whether he believed the treatment could extend further to other types of cancer, Dr Holder said: “For this trial we are only interested in bladder cancer – it makes it easier to come to a conclusion. However, there may be other cancer types that also are sensitive to testosterone and we are definitely interested in evaluating other cancer types.

Dr Holder gave a virtual seven-minute pitch and was voted as the winner last Thursday not only by a panel of experts but also members of the public including his fellow countrymen in Bermuda who he appealed to in August to support him.

He said: “I want to thank my home country I had lots of congratulatory messages and well wishes, I thank my friends, family and country people for the support they have shown me – it is heart warming.”

The full pitch can be viewed here.

As primary investigator, Dr Holder will be fully involved in the trials, which will test both men and women with bladder cancer.