The prostate cancer research program in the department of urology recently was awarded $4.4 million from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) as an additional five years of funding from the NCI’s Early Detection Research Network (EDRN).
The EDRN engages dozens of institutions nationwide in translating biomarker information into clinical application and evaluating new ways of testing for cancer in its earliest stages and testing for cancer risk. The Health Science Center’s area of focus is prostate cancer and the principal investigator is Ian M. Thompson, M.D., professor and chair of the department of urology, and holder of the Henry B. and Edna Smith Dielmann Memorial Chair at the Health Science Center.
The Health Science Center is one of only three institutions to receive funding for prostate cancer studies.
Increased levels of biomarkers found in body fluids or tissues may indicate a certain type of cancer is present. The Health Science Center’s San Antonio Center of Biomarkers of Risk (SABOR) program, under the leadership of Dr. Thompson and funded by the EDRN, is searching for biomarkers that could be added to current prostate cancer risk factors such as family history and age.
