In response to NIH RFA CA-95-006 the Michigan Cancer Foundation operating the Meyer L. Prentis Comprehensive Cancer Center of Metropolitan Detroit (MLPCCCMD) proposed to develop within Urologic Oncology a distinct program with a major emphasis in Prostate Cancer (PCa) that will combine laboratory, clinical research, epidemiological and ultimately behavioral research programs.
The specific aims of this proposal are to establish a working group using translational and clinical scientists with collective expertise in PCa biology detection, screening and ultimately treatment, To implement a series of pilot projects that will garner preliminary data which will make the proposed research more competitive for traditional RO1 and PO1 funding. Finally to translate research results into useful strategies form diagnosis prognosis and development of treatment strategies from PCa. As part of this program 8 new faculty specializing in PCa research at the translational and basic level will be recruited to Wayne State University (WSU). Laboratory space has been provided as well as a core facility in comparative genomic hybridization analysis (CGH). A substantial university commitment in the amount of $5. 11 million over 4 years has been pledged as matching money to this development grant. This funding includes salary for 8 individuals ($2.56 million), a commitment from the President of the university ($1.5 million), a commitment from 5 participating departments ($1.0 million) and a commitment for 50% match for the CGH Core Facility ($50,000). A core of basic science and translational research investigators will be formed around the interactive themes of model systems, prognostic indicators, tumor suppressor genes, cell signalling mechanisms, apoptosis and motility and invasion. A particular emphasis of this proposal is an examination of the African-American population and the Caucasian population in the Detroit Metropolitan area to test for biological factors responsible for the racial differences observed in PCa within these two population groups. Four pilot projects have been chosen for initial funding and they are the establishment of human prostate epithelial cell lines from African American and Caucasian patient examination of genomic alternations and cellular proliferation in PCa of African Americans, the study on the racial perspectives on premalignant lesions of the prostate in African- Americans and Caucasians, and an integrated information management system for PCa data. The latter will be an enhancement of the current biostatistics core of the MLPCCCMD. It will include an electronic link of five currently existing databases as well as the introduction of investigator initiated data into this integrated system. The final goal of this initiative is to move discoveries from the basic science arena to clinical applications for Pca as rapidly as possible.
