A significant number of breast and prostate cancers eventually become resistant to current treatment approaches. A prevailing paradigm in the field is that if specific molecules can be identified that fuel the cancer’s ability to resist current treatments, then a new arsenal of drugs directed to those molecules should halt cancer in its tracks.
Despite decades of research, such molecules have remained difficult to identify. Roswell Park scientists, under the direction of Ashwani Sood, PhD, Department Immunology, are taking this concept to a new level with their work presented at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) 100th Annual Meeting 2009, April 18- 22 in Denver, CO.
Prostate-derived Ets Factor (PDEF) is a member of one of the families of transcription factors which controls cell determination. PDEF is implicated in the regulation of cancer development, proliferation and differentiation. Dr. Sood and colleagues examined PDEF as a prognostic marker in breast and prostate cancer to understand if there was a correlation between the level of PDEF protein expression and disease stage, clinical aggressiveness, and overall survival of patients. According to this study, in breast cancer, high PDEF expression predicts increased risk of early death from cancer. In prostate cancer, high PDEF expression suggests early disease recurrence.
“These observations support an important role for PDEF in breast and prostate cancer progression and suggest that PDEF is highly desirable as a prognostic and therapeutic biomarker,” said Dr. Sood. “This study also supports developing novel treatments which can target PDEF in these cancers.”
Roswell Park Cancer Institute, founded in 1898, is the nation’s first cancer research, treatment and education center and is the only National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center in Upstate New York. RPCI is a member of the prestigious National Comprehensive Cancer Network, an alliance of the nation’s leading cancer centers. Roswell Park has affiliate sites and collaborative programs in New York, Pennsylvania, and in China. For more information, visit RPCI’s website at www.roswellpark.org, call 1-877-ASK-RPCI (1-877-275-7724) or e-mail askrpci@roswellpark.org
