A project analyzing men’s toenails to find clues about prostate cancer prevention has been funded by Prostate Cancer Canada and the New Brunswick Health Research Foundation.
Led by Associate Professor Trevor Dummer at UBC’s Centre of Excellence in Cancer Prevention, and Anil Adisesh at Dalhousie University, the project will receive $180,000 over two years to measure individual exposures to toxic metals that are known carcinogens and may cause prostate cancer.
Within the more than 30,000 toenail samples collected through the Atlantic PATH project, the team identified 149 prostate cancer patients, using detailed health and lifestyle questionnaires that accompanied the initial sample collection. They are also following up new cases of prostate cancer in the participants.
