2020 Advanced Accelerated Applications-PCF Young Investigator Award
Jeffrey Tosoian, MD
University of Michigan
Mentors: Arul Chinnaiyan, MD, PhD; Todd Morgan, MD; Bruce Trock, PhD
Refinement, Validation and Clinical Application of a Novel Panel ofHigh-Grade-Cancer-Specific Biomarkers in the Overall and African American Populations
Description:
- Early detection and treatment of aggressive prostate cancer is critical to reducing its harms and improving the chance of cure for patients. Current diagnostic tests are unable to reliably differentiate between patients with aggressive, potentially-lethal prostate cancer and those with indolent cancer or no cancer at all.
- Dr. Jeffrey Tosoian is combining recently-identified urinary markers of aggressive prostate cancer with existing cancer markers to define a biomarker panel capable of accurately identifying clinically-relevant prostate cancer.
- In this project, Dr. Tosoian will develop and validate a novel multigene urine test to identify high grade prostate cancers (Grade Group ≥2) that stand to benefit from early detection and treatment.
- Based on known prostate cancer disparities in the African-American population, this effort includes a specific focus on identifying markers that are highly accurate in African-American men – which could differ from the Caucasian population.
- If successful, this project will result in novel, non-invasive tests to accurately diagnose aggressive prostate cancer at an early stage, at which patients stand to benefit most from treatment.
What this means to patients: Dr. Tosoian and a collaborative team are developing more accurate tests to diagnose prostate cancer and distinguish aggressive cancers requiring definitive treatment from indolent cancers that can safely be monitored on active surveillance.