The Detection of Prostate Cancer Using Biomarker-Driven Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Abstract
Prostate cancer is the second most common cause of cancer death in men and the most common non-cutaneous cancer. The ability to accurately assess the severity of organ-confined prostate cancer and properly treat it are major hurdles faced in the clinic today. The inability to accurately characterize a patient s disease leads to overtreatment, which results in a decreased quality of life for the patient and large medical bills. Every year, men who are ideal candidates for watchful waiting or active surveillance undergo unnecessary and harmful surgeries. The goal of this project is to change that by developing a precision imaging technology for prostate cancer that will be able to differentiate between aggressive and benign tumors. The ability to differentiate aggressive lesions versus benign lesions is an unmet clinical need. Our imaging technology will fill this clinical void by being able to detect the bad actors early on and remove them from the stage before they ruin the show. To accomplish this goal, we will develop a molecular imaging technology that is driven by a prostate cancer biomarker that is expressed at high levels in aggressive prostate cancer. Our technology relies on a prostate-specific biomarker called AMACR to drive the expression of a reporter protein that can be detected by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Our approach is very simple. AMACR is only expressed in prostate cancer with poor prognosis. Those aggressive cancers have cellular machinery that bind to the DNA promoter of AMACR and turn on production of the AMACR protein. DNA promoters regulate the expression of genes. We will hijack the AMACR system by introducing a piece of DNA containing the AMACR promoter next to a protein that can be detected by MRI. When this piece of DNA is introduced into a cancer cell from the blood stream, the AMACR promoter will drive the synthesis of the MRI-detectable gene allowing for the non-invasive imaging of aggressive cancer within the prostate. Our AMACR imaging technology will allow for the direct imaging of aggressive prostate cancer within the gland with unrivaled precision and accuracy. This will allow clinicians to assess the severity of disease and help with the use of image-guided therapeutics that treat cancerous lesions in prostate while leaving the gland intact with fewer side effects than surgery. This project will be invaluable to my career as an academic researcher and make influential contributions to the field of prostate cancer research. The University of Minnesota provides a perfect environment for me to put my knowledge and skills to great use. Under excellent mentorship and access to state-of-the-art imaging facilities, I have endless opportunities to become the proactive researcher I aspire to be. I am surrounded by excellent researchers in prostate cancer and imaging. My resources and determination are the ideal combination to achieve my goals. The success of this project will ultimately lead to a widely used imaging tool for prostate cancer. It will allow clinicians to characterize the disease with far greater accuracy than they can today. The prostate cancer field is in dire need of this. I am very excited to contribute to prostate cancer research by developing this new imaging technology.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Aug 07, 2017
- Source ID
- W81XWH1710275
Entities
People
- Mariya Shapovalova
Organizations
- United States Army
- University of Minnesota