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Photo
left to
right:
Arul
Chinnaiyan,
M.D.,
Ph.D.;
Ganesh
Palapattu,
M.D.;
and
Elisabeth
Heath,
M.D.,
FACP,
are
co-directors
of
Michigan
Prostate
SPORE.
(Photos
courtesy
of U-M
and
Karmanos
Cancer
Institute)
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U-M,
Karmanos
receive
$9.2M
grant
for
prostate
cancer
research
Collaborative
projects
will
address
key
questions
about
how
prostate
cancer
develops
and how
best to
treat it
DETROIT/ANN
ARBOR,
MI -
Michigan’s
two
elite
cancer
programs
are
joining
forces
to find
new
solutions
for
prostate
cancer.
The
University
of
Michigan
Rogel
Cancer
and the
Barbara
Ann
Karmanos
Cancer
Institute
have
received
a
prestigious
$9.2
million
grant
from the
National
Cancer
Institute.
The
grant is
through
the
NCI’s
SPORE,
or
Specialized
Program
of
Research
Excellence,
which
funds
collaborative,
interdisciplinary
translational
cancer
research.
The
Michigan
Prostate
SPORE
will
focus on
critical
questions
regarding
how
prostate
cancer
develops,
with
projects
designed
to
address
major
barriers
and
challenges
in
diagnosis,
treatment
and
metastasis.
The
Rogel
Cancer
Center
first
received
a
prostate
cancer
SPORE
grant in
1995,
one of
the
first in
the
country.
It has
been
continuously
funded
since
then,
resulting
in
several
landmark
discoveries
that
have
identified
key
genetic
drivers
of
prostate
cancer.
In
this
renewal,
the U-M
team
reached
out to
Karmanos
researchers
to
leverage
the two
institutions’
complementary
strengths.
U-M and
Karmanos
are the
only two
NCI-designated
comprehensive
cancer
centers
in
Michigan.
“With
the
Michigan
Prostate
SPORE,
we hope
to
improve
outcomes
for men
with
prostate
cancer
by
making
scientific
advances
that
address
critical
questions
in how
the
disease
develops
and how
best to
treat
it. The
partnership
between
the
Rogel
Cancer
Center
and
Karmanos
will
help us
find
innovative
solutions
that
ultimately
benefit
patients,”
says
co-principal
investigator
Arul M.
Chinnaiyan,
M.D.,
Ph.D.,
director
of the
Michigan
Center
for
Translational
Pathology
and S.P.
Hicks
Professor
of
Pathology
at
Michigan
Medicine.
“We
are
honored
to
collaborate
with U-M
on this
prestigious
NCI
SPORE
grant to
continue
the
Michigan
Prostate
SPORE,”
says
co-principal
investigator
Elisabeth
Heath,
M.D.,
FACP,
the
Patricia
C. and
E. Jan
Hartmann
endowed
chair
for
Prostate
Cancer
Research
at
Karmanos
Cancer
Institute,
and
professor
of
oncology
and
medicine
at Wayne
State
University
School
of
Medicine.
“We are
fortunate
that our
research
at
Karmanos
highlights
our
diverse
population,
which
will
complement
the work
underway
at U-M.
Collectively,
we have
the
opportunity
to gain
a better
understanding
of
metastatic
prostate
cancer
in many
populations
and
discover
additional
ways to
treat
this
disease,
as well
as
prevent
it.”
The
Michigan
Prostate
SPORE is
centered
on three
projects
designed
to
translate
laboratory
discoveries
into
clinical
advances.
Projects
range
from
early
detection
to
tackling
the most
aggressive
and
advanced
form of
the
disease,
called
castration-resistant
metastatic
prostate
cancer.
1.
Understanding
a new
subset
of
metastatic
prostate
cancer.
Chinnaiyan’s
lab has
previously
found 7%
of
metastatic
prostate
cancer
patients
have
loss of
the gene
CDK12.
This
subset
of
tumors
was
produced
more
immune
T-cells
and
laboratory
studies
suggest
they may
be
responsive
to
immunotherapy
checkpoint
inhibitors,
a
treatment
that has
overall
had
limited
success
in
prostate
cancer.
This
project
will
focus on
metastatic
castration-resistant
prostate
cancer
with
CDK12
mutation,
seeking
to
uncover
new
treatment
targets
or
biomarkers
and to
perform
clinical
trials
using
immune
checkpoint
inhibitors.
2.
Using a
urine
test for
early
detection
and high
risk.
One of
the
biggest
questions
in
prostate
cancer
is
distinguishing
between
which
tumors
are
slow-growing,
requiring
minimal
intervention,
and
which
are
likely
to be
aggressive
and need
immediate
treatment.
This
project
will
investigate
a new
urine-based
test
developed
at U-M
that
looks at
a
combination
of
multiple
prostate
markers,
genes
and
other
risk
variants.
The goal
is to
improve
early
detection
of
prostate
cancer
in those
at high
genetic
risk and
to
understand
among
those
diagnosed
with
prostate
cancer
who
needs
aggressive
treatment
and who
may
benefit
from a
less-intensive
approach.
3.
Overcoming
treatment
resistance.
The
hormone
androgen
plays a
key role
in
prostate
cancer,
with
current
treatment
including
drugs
designed
to block
signals
from the
androgen
receptor.
The
problem
is,
nearly
all
tumors
become
resistant
to these
therapies.
This
project
will
investigate
a new
way of
targeting
the
androgen
receptor’s
messenger
RNA in
the
hopes
that
disrupting
the
signaling
upstream
could
block
any
androgen
receptor
signaling
in the
tumor,
essentially
depleting
all
androgen
receptor
signaling.
“Each of
these
projects
will
help us
better
understand
the
molecular
mechanisms
of
prostate
cancer
progression
and will
also
have a
major
clinical
impact
on the
diagnosis
and
treatment
of
patients
as we
translate
laboratory
discoveries
to the
bedside,”
says
co-principal
investigator
Ganesh
Palapattu,
M.D.,
Chair
and
George
F. and
Sandy G.
Valassis
Professor
of
Urology
at
Michigan
Medicine.
This
project
is
funded
through
National
Cancer
Institute
grant
P50CA186786-06.
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