Prostate Cancer Research to Focus on Molecular Targeting

A primary focus for prostate cancer research in the next decade will be molecular targeting, which could lead to the development of drugs that block the spread of the disease. "Molecular targets are really going to come on very strong in the next decade. There are many, many targets that are being identified through gene screenings," says Dr. Timothy C. Thompson, a professor of urology, radiology and cell biology at Baylor College of Medicine.

"Once we know enough about what a particular gene product is doing and what proteins it's interacting with, it can be the target of a drug that blocks a response," he says. Dr. Thompson and his team of researchers have been leaders in the study of caveolin, a protein that is "turned on" in metastatic prostate cancer cells. Their latest findings, published in Cancer Research, suggest that this protein could be a marker for prostate cancer metastasis. Metastasis is the spread of cancer to another part of the body. "Metastasis is the real problem in prostate cancer and right now, there's really no handle on it in terms of clinically useful markers. This could be the first," Dr. Thompson says. The discovery could lead to a test for the protein in prostate cancer patients who have had surgical removal of the prostate. Its presence could help urologists in selecting treatment options.

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer and the second leading cause of cancer death in American men. One out of every 10 men will develop the disease at some time, usually after the age of 65. When the cancer is confined to the prostate, survival is excellent after surgical removal of the prostate. The prognosis is much poorer for prostate cancer that has spread. "In metastasize prostate cancer, there's not a lot of choices now, and more information is coming in that suggests if the cancer is going to metasticize, it may do so early on," Dr. Thompson says. "We're at the beginning of what I think is going to be an exponential growth phase in both information and more effective therapies," he says. "Things are really going to start moving fast over the next few years." The Baylor department of urology research is funded through a Specific Program of Research Excellence (SPORE) grant from the National Cancer Institute.

- LORI WILLIAMS

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©2006 Texas Medical Center

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