Grant will support three projects on prostate cancer

Dr. Paul Lange, professor and chair of the School of Medicine’s Department of Urology, is principal investigator of a five-year, $2.77 million grant from the National Institutes of Health. The grant funds studies of carcinoma of the prostate (CaP) and continues support for the UW George M. O’Brien Center for Urological Research.

Three major projects are funded. Dr. William Ellis, associate professor of urology, will look at the cellular mechanism behind CaP’s ability to exclusively metastasize to bone; Dr. Robert Vessella, professor of urology, will examine the influence of several factors in CaP cells that may allow CaP bone implantation, growth or the unique osteoblastic response; and Dr. Nicholas Bruchovsky of the British Columbia Cancer Agency in Vancouver will lead a project to study prostate specific antigen (PSA) gene expression and regulation.

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men. The O’Brien Center was established five years ago with grants from the National Cancer Institute and the National Institutes of Diabetes, Digestive and Kidney Diseases. ¶