The American Cancer Society Prostate Cancer Research

Friday, 04 May 2007

The American Cancer Society prostate cancer research is an ongoing project. They are constantly working to bring about new ways to treat and cure prostate cancer. There are several studies going on that are sponsored by the American Cancer Society. The studies on Targeted Therapies are:

* Interfering with cancer cell growth– The use of special proteins, fats and other substances to signal the different cells or parts of cells when to die. They are hoping this will work well on cancer cells.
* Interfering with cancer cell spread– As cancer cells divide and spread, new blood vessels grow from the old ones to help supply the necessary nutrients for the cancer cells or tumor to grow. Researchers are hoping to stop the growth of these new blood vessels and halt the cancer growth.
* Harnessing the immune system to fight off cancer cells– Therapeutic vaccines to stimulate the immune system to recognize and fight off a specific virus if it comes in contact with that virus again. These vaccines also can be taught to fight certain proteins specific to cancer.
* Obesity and prostate cancer– To find if men who lose weight in adulthood seem to lower their risk of getting aggressive prostate cancer. This study is the first to link weight loss to a reduced risk of prostate cancer.
* The prevalence of prostate cancer in African American Men– Researchers are looking into a genetic link to prostate cancer. They have mapped the location of a gene associated with increased prostate cancer risk. Alterations in this gene is responsible for at least a third of the prostate cancer that runs in families.
* Biomarker research– Researchers may have found for prostate cancer that will be better at finding the disease than a biopsy or PSA testing. The marker is a collection of antibodies that seem to be produced when prostate cancer is present. Researchers hope to find markers that are better at predicting whether prostate cancer is present.

You can find out more about these and other research projects at the American Cancer Society website.

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