Quantitative Proteomics-Based Prostate Cancer Prediction Models for African American and Caucasian American Military Patients
Abstract
In 2019, an estimated 174,650 men will be newly diagnosed with prostate cancer (PCa), and 31,620 men will die from this disease in the United States. The burden of the disease is particularly heavy on African Americans, who are 1.5 times more likely to develop prostate cancer and 2.5 times more likely to die of this disease, compared to Caucasian Americans. Studies have shown that there are significant differences in clinical presentation between African American and Caucasian Americans at time of initial cancer detection. However, data on early markers of detection for PCa specific to African American men are very limited, potentially leading to suboptimal care. Our study goal is to provide data and tools that can be used to predict cancer events based on a patient’s self-reported race, his tumor characteristics, and his health status so that patients can make treatment decisions based on sound scientific data and physicians can tailor prostate cancer therapy to African American patients to achieve optimal outcomes. This proposal will study biological factors that may contribute to racial disparities in PCa incidence and outcomes. The major objectives of this proposed study are: 1. To provide comprehensive data for the entire prostate cancer course among African American men. The Center for Prostate Disease Research has collected detailed clinical data for over 25 years on more than 29,500 men, of whom roughly one-third (10,000) remain cancer-free, and two thirds are biopsy-confirmed for PCa (20,000). Within this cohort, 20% of men self-identify as African American (6,000). This cohort is uniquely suited to provide the most comprehensive race-specific data about prostate cancer status and aggressiveness. There is no expert consensus on how to predict which men will be detected with cancer that has already spread to other parts of the body, but this study is anticipated to help answer that question, with an ability to determine whether the same factors can be used across race to address this important question. Moreover, this study cohort is made up of a military health care beneficiary population, and results from this study could provide unique information to the patients with early-stage prostate cancer or patients whose cancer returns after initial treatment. One important clinical benefit and implication of this work will be the potential impact on improving patient quality of life. Most patients will live for many years following a prostate cancer diagnosis, ultimately dying from other causes. Therefore, improving quality of life during the survivorship period is a critically important goal that could be readily impacted by this study, which will provide markers that help reveal which patients can delay treatment versus those who need treatment right away and offer this information for each racial group. Those who can safely delay treatment will be spared the negative consequences on quality of life that are known to occur after invasive treatment for this cancer. 2. To provide race-specific biological markers of cancer aggressiveness for African American and Caucasian American military health cancer beneficiaries. Identifying new markers of cancer aggressiveness for each racial group will allow doctors to better tailor disease management in African American patients and identify patients who are likely to benefit from earlier, timely treatment interventions, which will ultimately improve prostate cancer outcomes and quality of life among African American patients.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Mar 10, 2021
- Source ID
- W81XWH2010657
Entities
People
- Jennifer Cullen
Organizations
- Case Western Reserve University
- United States Army