Andrew Goldstein, associate professor of molecular, cell and developmental biology and urology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, received a $900,000 Idea Development Award from the Department of Defense to study how metabolism changes in prostate cancer as a result of hormone therapy, the most commonly used treatment for men with advanced disease.
Hormone therapy, also known as antiandrogen therapy, can help stop prostate cancer cell growth for some time. But treatment alone isn’t a cure. Nearly all patients eventually see their cancer progress, making further improvements vital to improve clinical outcomes.
The award will help Goldstein and his team research ways to target metabolism that occurs in the mitochondria, which play a key role in cells that initially survive hormone therapy. It will also help the researchers better understand how tumors survive and grow even after treatment with drugs that target the androgen receptor — by focusing on how surviving tumor cells generate the energy required to grow.
“While we still have a lot to learn, we hope this work can one day lead to new clinical trials to improve the treatment of prostate cancer and hopefully prevent or delay the progression of the disease and ultimately reduce deaths from the disease,” said Goldstein, a member of the UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer and the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at UCLA.
