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Prostate Cancer Research
Prostate cancer is the most common type of cancer found in American men, other than skin cancer. 1 in 6 men will develop prostate cancer in their lifetime, and 1 in 35 will die of it. In 2008, the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality surveyed the most common treatments and came to a frustrating and startling conclusion: it could not recommend one treatment as working better than any other for all men.
SWCRF funds research to identify an individual’s most effective treatment based on a molecular level analysis of that person’s specific tumor.
Dr. Charles Sawyer of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center is developing ways to identify two common gene mutations that cause prostate cancer because targeted treatment would be different for cancer caused by different mutations. There are currently drugs available which target tumors with PTEN mutations, but they would not be effective against tumors caused by MYC mutations. Without the kinds of tests that Dr. Sawyers is working on, all prostate cancer patients are given the same drugs. One possible outcome of the research might be a blood test, comparable to the PSA test, which would catch cancer earlier and identify the genetic flaw for targeted treatment.
Dr. Sawyers’ lab is also participating in promising clinical trials for a drug to help men who have developed resistance to the antiandrogen drugs commonly used to fight prostate cancer. The drug may delay progression of the cancer or possibly even induce a partial or complete remission.
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