Team-based science
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Last year, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) awarded researchers at the EVMS Leroy T. Canoles Jr. Cancer Research Center a $4 million grant to continue work on a breakthrough around early detection of aggressive prostate cancer.
The news was significant because of the potentially life-changing implications of the research: an estimated 35,000 men will die from prostate cancer in 2024. In recognizing the research, however, NCI — part of the National Institutes of Health — also elevated the importance of team-based science.
The EVMS-led research team brings together research groups from the United States and Canada that are internationally recognized for their “translational” work to rapidly translate research from the lab to the patient’s bedside. The grant brings the total awarded to EVMS through this initiative to $11 million and allows for a level of collaboration and expertise- and resource-sharing that can elevate an array of research initiatives at EVMS.
John Semmes, PhD, Founding Director of the Cancer Research Center and Professor of Microbiology and Molecular Cell Biology, says the teamwork behind the science represents a growing movement in the research and scientific community.
“Assembling multi-disciplinary research teams is critical to tackling complex medical and healthcare challenges,” Dr. Semmes says. “Our team’s efforts to improve the delivery of care to prostate cancer patients requires extensive interprofessional collaborative research to reach the bedside. We have been fortunate to assemble an outstanding Hampton Roads bench-to-bedside team that includes EVMS researchers with complementary expertise and clinical professionals at Urology of Virginia, as well as their patients that participate in our studies.”
In addition, he adds, the work is made possible through EVMS’ partnership with Sentara, which “provides resources through which patients can fulfill their wish to contribute to translational research.”
Better tests, healthier futures
The Early Detection Research Network is a prestigious program of the National Cancer Institute. The network supports the complete translational pipeline for cancer biomarker development and validation with an emphasis toward getting new biomarkers into the clinic.
The current award designates the multi-institutional team as a Biomarker Characterization Center — one of only 10 across the country.
The Biomarker Characterization Center consists of a lab to discover and develop new biomarkers, a reference lab to build clinical assays and an administrative core to coordinate the lab functions and integrate the center’s activities with the larger network and the NCI. These centers interact closely with sister Clinical Validation Centers and a Data Management and Coordinating Center.
“The focus of the Early Detection Research Network is to translate discovery and innovation into clinical tests that improve the lives of cancer patients,” he says. “The integrated structure builds additional expertise into a network that bridges the knowledge needed to bring a new biomarker to the clinic.
The $4 million grant awarded to EVMS “will help us continue our work to develop tests that can identify aggressive prostate cancer before it advances and to realize our dream of personalized care that tailors treatment decisions to fit the individual patient,” Dr. Semmes says. “We want to be able to identify advanced disease prior to surgery so that the best treatment options are implemented earlier.”
The EVMS group is co-led by Julius Nyalwidhe, PhD, also a member of the center and Associate Professor of Microbiology and Molecular Cell Biology. He agrees with Dr. Semmes.
“The goal is to advance the science to the point where we can provide patients with a better range of treatment options, based on their individual circumstances, so that we are not only improving outcomes but also lifestyles and well-being throughout the diagnosis and treatment process,” he says.
Landmark studies
In the initial phase of the study that forms the basis for the latest grant, researchers teamed up to develop a novel approach to move rapidly from discovery to validation of hundreds of proteins — each a potential component in a new cancer biomarker. The team took advantage of the existing interprofessional expertise and decided that urine would provide a convenient and non-invasive source of a new biomarkers.
The data resulted in the identification of a liquid-biopsy biomarker for aggressive prostate cancer — the first protein-based liquid biomarker of its kind. The team worked with Urology of Virginia to collect urine samples taken following routine digital rectal exams. They found the urine contained prostatic fluids that could identify whether a man had an aggressive form of prostate cancer.
The research, co-authored with researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles and University of Toronto, was published in the journal Nature Communications.
The next step in the study, Dr. Semmes says, is to build an optimized assay that meets stringent standards prior to large scale validation. Dr. Nyalwidhe is the program leader for the Biomarker Reference laboratory activities. His laboratory has published successful development of targeted mass spectrometry protein assays.
“We are working closely with our colleagues at UCLA and the University of Toronto to make this a reality,” Dr. Semmes says. “Our team’s goal is to bring non-invasive biomarkers into the clinic that will detect aggressive disease earlier and, ultimately, save lives.”
Pictured at top: Dr. Julius Nyalwidhe (left) and Dr. John Semmes in the Leroy T. Canoles Jr. Cancer Research Center in Lester Hall.