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2023 John Curtius – PCF Young Investigator Award

Development of a Novel Molecular-Based Treatment Strategy for De Novo Metastatic Castration-Sensitive Prostate Cancer using Long-Read Transcriptome Sequencing

Takayuki Sumiyoshi, MD, PhD
Kyoto University

Mentors: Takashi Kobayashi, Shusuke Akamatsu, Akihiro Fujimoto

Description:

  • The standard of care for patients with metastatic castration-sensitive prostate cancer (mCSPC) is combination treatment with androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) plus docetaxel or androgen receptor pathway inhibitors. Individual patient outcomes can be variable due to inter-patient tumor heterogeneity, however, treatment selection remains largely empirical based on radiographic and pathologic assessment of disease.
  • Improved predictive or prognostic biomarkers based on biology are needed to enable optimal treatment selection for each patient and improve treatment outcomes.
  • Takayuki Sumiyoshi and team are using new “long read” RNA sequencing technology to develop novel biomarkers for optimally selecting treatments for patients from Japan with mCSPC.
  • In this project, Dr. Sumiyoshi and team are using RNA sequencing data from a cohort of patients with mCRPC to identify novel gene-splice variants and fusion genes that associate with prostate cancer progression, and full-length gene transcripts that characterize the disease state.
  • The association between molecular features and clinical outcomes will be characterized, to develop new biomarkers and subtype classifications.
  • If successful, this project will result in the development of new biomarkers to better understand the biology of mCSPC and guide optimal treatment selection for patients with mCSPC.
  • This project will also provide a comprehensive understanding of the molecular biology of prostate cancer among less well studied Japanese/Eastern Asian population, and allow deeper understandings of shared and ethnic-specific characteristics of prostate cancer.

What this means to patients: Multiple standard-of-care treatment options are now available for patients with mCSPC, yet biomarkers to optimally match patients with treatments are lacking. Dr. Sumiyoshi and team will apply new RNA sequencing technology to mCSPC samples to provide further understanding of cancer genes associated with disease progression and develop novel risk stratification frameworks for patients diagnosed with mCSPC.