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As part of The Patrick C. Walsh Hereditary Prostate Cancer Program , “in an effort to find additional genes that can predict prostate cancer risk, we have begun a large study, sequencing each of the over 20,000 inherited genes from different sets of prostate cancer patients: men with highly aggressive or lethal disease, men with more indolent or benign disease, and men with multiple affected family members.”
Read MoreCombination Immunotherapy Combats AR-V7+ Prostate Cancer
Good news for some men with very aggressive prostate cancer: in a small study at Hopkins, a combination of two immunotherapy drugs has made a significant difference – shrinking tumors partially or completely – and two of 15 men have shown exceptional responses.
HOXB13 and AR-V7: Genetic Partners in Crime
HOXB13, a mutated gene that greatly raises a man’s risk of getting prostate cancer, was discovered in 2012 by William Isaacs, Ph.D., the William Thomas Gerrard, Mario Anthony Duhon and Jennifer and John Chalsty Professor of Urology, and colleagues in a seminal study published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
A Key Target in Aggressive Prostate Cancer May Lead to New Drug Development
Prostate cancer steals the kindling from the neighbor’s woodpile – and this may help explain why androgen deprivation therapy stops working: the cancer bypasses it, and makes its own supply of male hormones.
“Liquid Biopsy” for Advanced Prostate Cancer Spots Tiny Danger Signs Sooner
A blood test for key genetic mutations could help doctors get the jump on the most aggressive cancer sooner, with more aggressive or gene-specific treatment.
Could Inherited Gene Mutations Affect Men in Active Surveillance?
“Our findings suggest that a man who carries one of these mutations may be better off with treatment rather than surveillance.”
Not So Many Biopsies in Active Surveillance?
The downside of active surveillance (AS) for prostate cancer is the follow- up needle biopsies. Nobody likes them: not the men who feel like pincushions, and not the surgeons who do the repeated biopsies, sometimes for years. But everyone has agreed – because there hasn’t been a better approach – that it would be far worse to miss the presence of more aggressive cancer that needs to be treated.
Could Some Intermediate-Risk Men Do Active Surveillance?
“This is a four- to five-times higher risk than for men with low- and very low-risk prostate cancer.”
If You Have Lymph Node Metastases After Radical Prostatectomy, What Should You Do?
Determining factors included seminal vesicle invasion, a Gleason score of 9 or greater, having three or more positive lymph nodes, and having positive surgical margins. Men with one or more of these findings would benefit from ADT plus radiation.
Prostate Cancer Therapy and the Gut Microbiome
It may be that targeting the gut microbiome – in the form of prebiotics, probiotics, or even fecal transplant – may make ADT and other forms of treatment much more effective.
End-of-Radiation PSA and Intermediate- Risk Cancer
“There are patients with favorable and unfavorable intermediate- risk prostate cancer.”
New Device Extracts CTCs From Blood
It’s a cellular version of “no man left behind.” Recovery of CTCs is 100 percent.
What’s the Best Way to Treat Localized, Gleason 9-10 Prostate Cancer?
The most aggressive localized prostate cancer has a Gleason score of 9-10. What’s the best way to treat it? Radiation oncologist Phuoc Tran, M.D., Ph.D., and colleagues recently took part in a multi-institutional study to find out.
Breaking Prostate Cancer’s Control Over the Immune System
Among the many changes that happen when prostate cancer becomes metastatic is a weird kind of freeze-tag, played at the protein level between cancer cells and cells of the immune system.
A Genetic Target to Help the Immune System Fight Cancer
Often in the microenvironment of prostate cancer are immune system cells, just sitting nearby and not doing anything. These cells need to wake up.
Custom-Tailored Prostate Biopsy
“Every man has a prostate of a different size and shape.”
“Given the higher prevalence of hepatitis C virus in Baby Boomers and rising prevalence of non- alcoholic fatty liver disease, our work has implications for prostate cancer screening.”
Pain Control after Radical Prostatectomy
Radical prostatectomy patients needed less than a quarter of the pain medications they were prescribed.
Thinking About Cancer in New Ways
What can experts from other fields show us about how cancer works?
Mini-Bladders for Study, Made From a Patient’s Own Cells
Making a mini-organ using the patient’s own tissue can spare time, money, and disappointment by predicting drug sensitivity and resistance – avoiding weeks or months of trial and error.
In Bladder Cancer, the Subtype Matters
The way we think about bladder cancer has been transformed. The revolution in thought, led by Greenberg Bladder Cancer Institute scientists David McConkey, Ph.D., and Woonyoung Choi, M.S., Ph.D., Director of Genomics, is this: there are different molecular subtypes of bladder cancer – each with distinct biological and clinical characteristics. Not only may they behave in significantly different ways; they may respond better to different forms of treatment.
“Liquid Biopsy”and Personalized Treatment for Bladder Cancer
“These new tests are so sensitive, they can detect just one single cancer cell!”
Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy And Upper Tract Urothelial Cancer
“Patients who received neoadjuvant chemotherapy were more likely to have non-invasive disease at surgery – meaning their invasive disease had been eradicated.
A Powerful Immunotherapy Mix for Bladder Cancer
The ADAPT-BLADDER trial will combine immune checkpoint-inhibitor therapy, BCG, and radiation therapy.
In Active Surveillance, Some Small Kidney Tumors Just Go Away
“We don’t know if these are benign lesions that just disappear on their own, or if they are small cancers that the body fights off.”
The DISSRM: Nearly a Decade of Patient-Specific Treatment
“The risk of death from cancer is incredibly low in these patients, and choosing the right management strategy is highly patient-specific.”
They call themselves the Go Team.” As in, “when you get the phone call, you go!”
The Patrick C. Walsh Prostate Cancer Research Fund
Read About the Research You Have Helped Make Possible.
Identifying Genes through Discovery
We’re curing cancers that used to be incurable.
Partnerships with donors make discoveries possible. Thank you to those who have contributed $500,000 or more to The Patrick C. Walsh Prostate Cancer Research Fund.
He was “the father of modern science in prostate disease.” More than this, he was a great man.
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