$1,828,350 over 6 years for a personalized medicine metastatic prostate cancer study Wednesday, August 02, 2023 The CIHR has announced funding, $1,828,350 over 6 years, for the CCTG PR25 trial, a metastatic prostate cancer personalized medicine study investigating the addition platinum-based chemotherapy to standard of care chemotherapy to evaluate markers believed to predict benefit. "This funding support from CIHR will allow us to conduct this innovative trial, which aims to improve outcomes for patients with advanced prostate cancer by leveraging existing biomarker testing and treatments," says Dr Michael Kolinsky, Medical Oncologist at the Cross Cancer Institute and CCTG PR25 study chair. Dr Michael Kolinsky, CCTG PR25 study chair Of those Canadians diagnosed with prostate cancer each year, 25% have alterations in their genes that normally repair damage. These genes are called DNA damage response (DDR) genes which make cancer cells sensitive to a form of chemotherapy called platinum-based chemotherapy (PBC). The study will specifically test whether platinum-based chemotherapy used in combination with a non-platinum-based drug improves overall survival for advanced prostate cancer patients with DNA damage response gene alterations. If this study shows a positive benefit for those patients, it could change how it is treated in a way that could help extend the lives of a quarter of these patients. Platinum-based chemotherapy is relatively inexpensive and, when used in combination with a non-platinum-based drug, should not add significantly to healthcare costs. "This important clinical trial uses existing genetic testing to enable investigation of established treatments in patients with genomic alterations to determine if these treatments will improve their outcomes. The CIHR funding will enable patients with prostate cancer throughout Canada to participate," says Dr Miriam Jafri, CCTG Senior Investigator. Dr Miriam Jafri, CCTG Senior Investigator
