Functionotherapeutics: Gene Discovery and Function based Therapeutic Strategies

Morehouse School of Medicine Gains Ground on Prostate Cancer Research

Morehouse School of Medicine (MSM) will be able to continue its revolutionary research on prostate cancer – a disease that killed more than 27,000 men in theUnited States in 2006 – thanks to a new grant by the U.S. Department of Defense(DOD). Georgia Cancer Coalition (GCC) Distinguished Cancer Scholar E. Shyam P. Reddy, Ph.D., Professor and co-director, Cancer Biology Program, MSM Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Georgia Cancer Center for Excellence at Grady Health System has received a $525,000 grant from the DOD to continue his groundbreaking work on prostate cancer.

African-American males are 1.7 times more likely to develop, and two to three times more likely to die from prostate cancer than White males. Thus, African-American males within the United States are aff ected disproportionately by prostate cancer compared to White males. One of the goals of the DOD program is to identify features of molecular pathways that differentially affect African-American males compared to White males.

The ERG gene discovered by Dr Shyam Reddy and Dr Veena N. Rao,  co-director of the Cancer Biology Program, is involved in 60 to 80 percent of prostate cancers. Reddy and his colleagues (Veena Rao, Ph.D. ; Roland Matthews, M.D.; Yasuo Fujimura, Ph.D.; Ganapathy K. Bhat, Ph.D.; and Shubhalaxmi Kayarthodi) developed a novel cell based assay to assess the function of ERG proteins. Using this novel assay, Reddy identified a novel targeted therapeutic agent that inhibits ERG function and also functions as an anticancerous agent against prostate cancer.

“This award gives us an opportunity to study the mechanism of action of this novel drug, which may lead to the cure of prostate cancer,” said Reddy. “It also will enable us to develop more potent drugs that are targeted against prostate cancer.” Reddy will use the award to test the novel drug in preclinical trials. The studies will not only explain the molecular mechanism of activation of the ERG gene in human prostate cancers, but also provide clues for therapeutic intervention.

Reddy and Rao also have identified several other novel drugs that function as targeted therapeutic agents against a variety of cancers including Ewing Sarcoma, pancreatic, ovarian, colorectal and triple negative breast cancer.

“We take this opportunity to thank the GCC for its support and encouragement. Without the GCC Distinguished Cancer Scholar award, we would not have discovered these novel drugs,” said Reddy. “We are truly grateful to GCC for standing up for our cancer research. These novel targeted therapeutic agents will also help to reduce health disparities seen among minorities, which supports the mission of Morehouse School of Medicine.”

Links:

NRI PULSE, Khabar Magazine

http://www.georgiacancer.org/over-news.php#241

Novel Targeted Therapeutic Agents against ERG-positive Prostate Cancers, 

Anti-epilepsy drug Valproic acid targets ERG-positive Prostate cancers

Facts about prostate cancer*:

• Prostate cancer is the most common non-skin cancer and the second leading cause of cancer death in men in the United States.

• One in six men in the U.S. will receive the diagnosis in his lifetime.

• The median age of death from prostate cancer from 2000 through 2004 was 80 years, and 71 percent of deaths occurred in men older than 75 years.

• Prostate cancer is a clinically heterogeneous disease. A substantial proportion of prostate cancer cases detected with current screening methods will never cause symptoms during the patients’ lifetime.

• For the first time, cancer rates and cancer deaths both dropped in the U.S., according to the American Cancer Society’s 2008 Annual Report. Declines in the three most common cancers in men: lung cancer, colon cancer, and prostate cancer.

• Although age is a risk factor for prostate cancer, the disease is more dangerous in men in their 50s and early 60s than in older men. Th is is why it is so important for men to begin screening before the age of 60. Prostate cancer in older men is often a slower growing and less dangerous variety.

• A family history of prostate cancer on either the father’s or mother’s side increases the risk of developing the disease.

• African-American men have twice the risk of developing prostate cancer as Caucasian men. The disease is most common in North America and northern Europe.

• Prostate cancer is more common in regions with lower exposure to sunlight, such as Michigan, and in regions where diets are high in fat.

*Sources: The American Cancer Society 2008 Annual Report; U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommendation statement, August 2008; University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center.