Mentors: Charles Ryan, MD; Eric Small, MD

Proposal Title: Dissecting Variant Androgen Signaling Phenotypes to Guide Treatment Selection in Abiraterone Acetate and Enzalutamide-Resistant Prostate Cancer

Description

• The emergence of treatment-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) is an inevitable outcome for men treated with androgen receptor (AR) targeted therapies. At present, the biology of prostate cancer treatment resistance is poorly understood.
• Dr. Won Kim hypothesizes that specific genetic changes in the AR are key drivers of resistance to androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) medications such as Xtandi® and Zytiga®.
• Androgen levels measured in patients enrolled in a long-term study with the Prostate Cancer West Coast Dream Team will enable Dr. Kim to explore interactions between androgen levels, AR genetic expression, prior treatments, and other clinical co-variables.
• Dr. Kim’s research will fill several crucial gaps in our current understanding of the molecular interactions driving treatment resistance and will evaluate the use of androgen level as a predictive biomarker for patient response to ADT.

What this means for patients: Characterizing the specific molecular interactions between androgen levels, ARs, ADT, and other clinical factors may lead to development of novel diagnostic and prognostic tools that, improve survival for men with CRPC.