Metastatic Prostate Cancer (MPC) Project

Principal Investigators: Eliezer Van Allen, MD (Harvard: Broad Institute of MIT & Harvard)

Co-Investigators: Ben Zola, BS (Harvard: Broad Institute of MIT & Harvard), Parker Chastain, MPH (Harvard: Broad Institute of MIT & Harvard), Elana Anastasio, BA (Harvard: Broad Institute of MIT & Harvard), and Matias Vergara, MS (Harvard: Broad Institute of MIT & Harvard)

Description:

• Count Me In is patient-partnered research program at the Harvard: Broad Institute of MIT & Harvard and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute that allows patients with cancer who live in the U.S and Canada to contribute their data and samples to research. Patients may join by registering online, which gives the program permission to contact their doctors and obtain their medical records, archival cancer samples and saliva or blood samples.
• The Metastatic Prostate Cancer Project, led by Dr. Eliezer Van Allen, is a project within Count Me In that specifically focuses on understanding the genomics and biology of metastatic prostate cancer. Over 1,000 patients with metastatic prostate cancer have already enrolled in this project.
• In this project, genomic sequencing and in-depth molecular profiling on prostate cancer samples is being performed and artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies are being used to understand relationships between biological features, clinical features and patient outcomes. Data from the project are de-identified and released on open access genomics discovery portals so that other researchers may study the data. Results from these studies are also shared with patients, to create a true patient-researcher partnership paradigm.
• The goals of this project are to comprehensively profile the genomics and molecular features of metastatic prostate cancer, identify biomarkers for precision oncology and discover new biology and treatment strategies.

What this means to patients:  Count Me In and The Metastatic Prostate Cancer Project are opportunities for patients with cancer to contribute to research breakthroughs by contributing their medical data and tissue samples.  Dr. Van Allen and team are using data from over 1,000 enrolled patients to comprehensively profile the genomic landscape of metastatic prostate cancer and to make new discoveries that can be used to guide treatment decisions and discover new treatment strategies.