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| Vol. 24, No. 14 |
| August 1, 2002 |
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Prostate Cancer Research Grant Renewed by HEATHER RUSSELL Baylor College of Medicine The Specialized Program of Research Excellence (SPORE) for prostate cancer at Baylor College of Medicine has been renewed by the National Cancer Institute. The $14 million award is for a five-year period. SPORE focuses on promoting novel, creative research and moving basic research findings from the laboratory to treating patients. The program hopes to reduce cancer incidence and deaths and improve survival for those with the disease. A primary focus for the research is molecular targeting, which could one day lead to the development of drugs that block the spread of the disease. For example, one of the main projects of the SPORE is research on caveolin-1, a protein important in prostate cancer, particularly in African-American men. "We already know that the protein, caveolin-1, is associated with and specifically secreted by aggressive prostate cancer cells," said Timothy Thompson, Ph.D., professor of urology, radiology, molecular and cellular biology at Baylor and SPORE director. "We hope to rapidly develop caveolin-1 as a diagnostic/prognostic biomarker and eventually as a therapeutic target. Genes identified through the SPORE program are destined for development as biomarkers and therapeutic use." Prostate cancer is the most common cancer and the second leading cause of cancer death in American men. More than 180,000 men in the United States will be diagnosed with prostate cancer this year, and more than 40,000 will die of the disease. At least 75 percent of all prostate cancers are diagnosed in men over age 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. "Mortality could be reduced if we had better clinical tools to assess the potential of the disease, and if we could more rapidly advance new experimental therapies," Thompson said. "Our goal is to develop the means to accurately predict the course of the disease and to develop new therapies so that the cancer can be treated successfully regardless of what stage it has reached."
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