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2020 Tad Smith & Caroline Fitzgibbons-PCF Young Investigator Award

Investigating Novel Epigenetic Drivers of Bone Metastasis and Treatment Response in Metastatic Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer

Juan Arriaga, PhD

Columbia University Medical Center

Mentors: Cory Abate Shen, PhD; Andreas Califano, PhD; Mark Rubin, MD

Description:

  • The most common site of prostate cancer metastasis is to bone, which is a major contributor to the morbidity and mortality of this disease. In order to develop novel and more effective therapies for metastatic prostate cancer, a better understanding of the biology of bone metastasis is needed.
  • Dr. Juan Arriaga has discovered the protein ATAD2 as a major player in prostate cancer bone metastasis, using a unique mouse model of bone metastasis that is molecularly conserved with human prostate cancer.
  • In this project, Dr. Arriaga will determine the molecular basis by which ATAD2contributes to prostate cancer bone metastasis.
  • In addition, the potential for ATAD2-targeting small molecule inhibitors as anew treatment for prostate cancer in combination with hormone therapy will be tested in preclinical models.
  • If successful, this will project will determine how ATAD2 impacts the development of bone metastasis and resistance to hormonal therapies, and validate its potential as a novel therapeutic target in metastatic prostate cancer.

What this means to patients: Dr. Arriaga is studying the biology of prostate cancer bone metastasis, specifically the role ofATAD2, and a driver of bone metastasis and possible new treatment target. This may result in an effective new therapeutic strategy to prevent or treat metastatic prostate cancer.