Probing Androgen Receptor Signaling in Circulating Tumor Cells in Prostate Cancer
Abstract
This Physician Research Training Award supports a mentored training program integrated with a research project focused on the study of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in prostate cancer patients using a microfluidic device (CTC-chip) to isolate CTCs from peripheral blood samples. During this award, we developed a quantitative immunofluorescence assay to measure AR activity in CTCs in patients with metastatic prostate cancer receiving treatment with hormonal therapy. We also developed methods for single CTC RNA-seq and digital gene expression profiling, and applied these techniques to single prostate CTCs. We analyzed single cell transcriptomes to reveal the heterogeneity of CTCs, and to identify key genes and molecular pathways enriched in CTCs that may contribute to treatment resistance in prostate cancer, including AR splice variants and the non-canonical Wnt pathway. Finally, this Award provided valuable protection of time for research and mentored training of the PI, and was essential in enabling his development towards a productive independent career in translational prostate cancer research.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Oct 01, 2017
- Accession Number
- AD1050791
Entities
People
- David T. Miyamoto
Organizations
- Massachusetts General Hospital