A Novel Regulator for the Exit of Bone-Resident Prostate Cancer Cells from Dormancy
Abstract
A significant portion of prostate cancer patients either present with or develop metastatic disease after local therapy, and the development of bone metastasis indicates incurable disease. Prostate cancer bone metastasis is a multi-step process that does not always follow a linear progression, and the lag time between the individual steps varies significantly among patients. A major challenge is to identify patients at risk for bone metastasis and to better understand the molecular characteristics that define prostate cancer bone metastasis, which will provide the basis for specific and efficient therapeutic strategies. The goals of this Idea Development Award application are: (1) to identify/characterize the genetic abnormalities necessary to convert dormant disseminated tumor cells or micrometastatic disease to full blown, clinically detectable gross metastatic deposits and (2) to develop an animal model of prostate cancer bone metastasis that recapitulates all the steps of the metastatic cascade from the primary tumor site to skeletal metastases, addressing a major challenge in prostate cancer. Successful completion of this research application will not only shed light on the molecular mechanisms underlying the tumor dormancy in the bone microenvironment, but also provide invaluable information for the identification of biomarkers useful for risk stratification of bone metastasis in patients with prostate cancer. Generation of a genetic model of prostate cancer bone metastasis will contribute significantly to prostate cancer research for preclinical testing of new therapeutic modalities, as well as to further understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying prostate cancer bone metastasis.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Nov 19, 2019
- Source ID
- W81XWH1910368
Entities
People
- Hyeong-reh Kim
Organizations
- United States Army
- Wayne State University