Prostate Cancer Research Fund
Prostate cancer facts in the United States:
- The most common form of cancer in men, a man receives a diagnosis of prostate cancer every 2.2 minutes.
- A man dies of this disease every 15.6 minutes.
- Men with a single first‐degree relative — father, brother or son — with a history of prostate cancer are twice as likely to develop the disease.
The University of Michigan has taken the lead in prostate cancer research and clinical care. We are committed to translating laboratory discoveries to directly benefit patients through effective, non-invasive diagnostic tools and targeted therapies for cancer. Our team has changed the paradigm in cancer research with world-renowned discoveries such as:
Gene Fusion — U-M researchers determined that shuffling and subsequent joining together of two genes in the genome causes “gene fusions” that can be an important prostate cancer‐causing mechanism. The ultimate goal is to identify specific gene fusions in individual prostate cancer patients so that effective and appropriate treatment plans can be pursued — a process commonly known as “personalized medicine.” Read more…
Hereditary Prostate Cancer Risk — After a 20-year quest to find a genetic driver for prostate cancer that strikes men at younger ages and runs in families, U-M researchers have identified a rare, inherited mutation linked to a significantly higher risk of the disease. The research team found that the risk of developing prostate cancer increased10- to 20-fold in men who have inherited this mutation. Read more…
Genetic Screening — U-M researchers recently completed a pilot study aimed at solving the practical challenges involved in quickly and systematically sequencing genetic material from patients with advanced or treatment-resistant cancer in order to match them with existing clinical trials based on the biomarkers identified. They found that identifying a patient’s “mutational landscape” provides a promising approach for identifying which trials may best help a patient. Read more…
New Drug Therapy — A new drug to treat prostate cancer shows early promise, particularly against tumors that have spread to the bone, a multi-site study involving U-M researchers shows. The drug Cabozantinib is designed to target mainly two important pathways linked to the growth and spread of prostate cancer. The drug had the most effect on tumors that had spread to the bone. Read more…
With your gift in support of the Men of Michigan Prostate Cancer Research Fund, we can improve the quality of life for many men suffering with this disease, and save the lives of countless grandfathers, fathers and sons in generations to come.
