Continuing their longstanding tradition of partnering to fund high quality Canadian prostate cancer research, Prostate Cancer Canada (PCC) and The Movember Foundation today announced two new projects with very real potential to make a tangible difference in the lives of men living with aggressive forms of prostate cancer.
Dr. Amina Zoubeidi is one of the recipients, for a project to develop blockers of BRN2, a gene linked to the growth of aggressive neuroendocrine prostate cancer. She will receive $1.5 million over a 3 year period, towards objective of accelerating the transition of existing knowledge into clinical application.
Targeting a protein that assists a deadly form of prostate cancer
Principal Investigator: Dr. Amina Zoubeidi, Vancouver Prostate Centre, Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute
Dr. Zoubeidi and her team are focusing on a deadly form of prostate cancer called neuroendocrine prostate cancer (NEPC), for which the only treatment option is a highly toxic chemotherapy and survival is measured in months. Building upon the discovery of a protein that is essential for the growth and survival of NEPC, the team is developing first-in-field blockers of this protein. At the successful completion of this research, they will have fine-tuned an ideal drug that is ready for immediate application in a clinical trial, with the ultimate goal of changing the way NEPC is treated.
