Nicholas Mitsiades

About Nicholas Mitsiades

Src is a cancer-causing gene (oncogene) that is “switched” on in many adult human cancers including prostate cancer. The Src signaling pathway is activated in many patients whose cancer is resistant to hormonal treatment for advanced prostate cancer. Dasatinib is a drug that inhibits the oncogene Src. In Phase II clinical trials, Dasatinib provided clinical benefit to ~17% of advanced prostate cancer patients. Dr. Mitsiades’ goal is to develop a non-invasive method of identifying which patients will benefit from Dasatinib treatment and which will not. This information would be an invaluable tool for selection of patients who would most likely respond to this medicine. To accomplish this, Dr. Mitsiades is defining a “molecular signature” in prostate cancer cells that is predictive of response to Dasatinib. The response signature will be assessed using tumor cells isolated from a patient’s blood.