Project Details
Description
It was estimated 1.3 million new cases of prostate cancer (PCa) and 359,000 associated deaths worldwide in 2018, ranking as the second most frequent cancer and the fifth leading cause of cancer death in men (Bray F et al., 2018). Death rates for PCa have been increasing in several Central and South American, Asian, and Central and Eastern European countries, possibly linked to a more Westernized lifestyle, in combination with limited access to effective treatment and diagnosis in advanced ages of the disease (Center MM et al., 2012). In Colombia, it is the most frequent cancer among men, with incidence and mortality age standardized rates of 49.8 and 11.9 cases per 100,000 people per year, respectively (Bray F et al., 2018). Prostate cancer is an extremely heterogeneous disease, a small percentage of patients presents rapid progress and aggressiveness, while more often the disease develops slowly and does not represent an abrupt health risk (Sanda MG; et al. 2018). However, in this latter category, where recommendation is monitoring via active surveillance (AS), long-term surveillance studies have demonstrated PCa progression with increased risk in those of African-American descendant or advanced age, which suggest underlying genetic factors, even in cases considered low risk (Sundi D., et al. 2015). Patients with prostate cancer who are gene mutated show higher-grade disease, resistance to treatment, and worse global survivals, so that, genetic studies are carried out to define the occurrence of germline mutations relevant for monitoring, stratification of treatment and identification of healthy carriers. The aggressive phenotype of prostate cancer associated with gene mutations is probably different from prostate cancer that has not. The identification of those mutations may be crucial to determining and establishing the best treatment options which could also be useful for the handling of patients with sporadic prostate cancer who develop same type of mutations and confer clinical characteristics of aggressiveness. So far, this is going to be the first diagnostic strategy focused on the analysis of the whole protein-coding regions of genes in the genome (known as the exome) for hereditary prostate cancer risk in our population. Metabolomics is a powerful approach because metabolites and their concentrations, directly reflect the underlying biochemical activity and state of cells/tissues. Thus, metabolomics best represents the molecular phenotype. Metabolite data can be complemented by protein data, thereby leading to the identification of multiple physiological biomarkers embedded in correlative molecular networks that are not approachable with mono targeted studies. The combination of these two approaches (multiomics) is an emerging technique for the characterization of biological samples and for drug treatment. Despite advances in detection and therapy, most about the etiology and outcome of prostate cancer remains largely unknown and no prior investigations in Colombian patients. This is the first study that will explore prostate cancer patients using a multiomics approach that combines genetics, proteomics and metabolomics as well as artificial intelligence to interpret the results and make multidimensional correlations. There are some studies combining KEGG theoretical pathways and the transcriptomics data to pinpoint the most probable cause for the individual PCa case. However no common trait or biomarker was found until now for PCa. At least ¿ more information of the pathophysiology of the PCa could be obtained, at the best a multiomics pattern might be identified for a better diagnosis of PCa. Knowledge gained from this research will establish beneficial in planning for genetic services for PCa patients in Colombia for the future. A genetic indicator set will be useful to identify men at high risk of PCa for targeted preventive efforts and treatment decisions.
Status | Finished |
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Effective start/end date | 23/09/21 → 22/09/23 |
Project funding
- National
- ASTELLAS FARMA COLOMBIA S A S