Nupam Mahajan Named Urology Surgery Research Professor
Prof. Nupam Mahajan, Director of Urologic Research was officially installed as the Urologic Surgery Research Professor on Tuesday, June 4. A gathering of trainees, faculty, leadership, including Chancellor, Dr. Andrew Martin, Dean, Dr. David Perlmutter and Chairman of Surgery Dr. John Olson and family celebrated Dr. Mahajan’s professorship at the Farrell Learning and Teaching Center’s Connor Auditorium.
This Endowed professorship honors Dr. Mahajan’s auspicious contributions to the field of prostate cancer research. He joined the faculty in 2018 as a cancer researcher and since beginning work in the Division of Urology, his contributions have continued to gain understanding of the epigenetic processes that impair immunity and promote cancer cell survival. His career has hinged on identifying and understanding the pathology of prostate cancers.
How prostate cancer provides its own hormonal fuel
The study explains how prostate cancer senses a drop in testosterone due to anti-hormone therapy and then begins making cholesterol — a necessary precursor to testosterone — to generate its own testosterone to fuel tumor growth. The study also points to a possible drug combination that may stop the cancer from feeding its own growth.
Radio Show: There’s A Promising New Treatment For Prostate Cancer
Drug triggers immune cells to attack prostate cancer
A single drug compound simultaneously attacks hard-to-treat prostate cancer on several fronts, according to a new study in mice and human cells. It triggers immune cells to attack, helps the immune cells penetrate the tumor, and cuts off the tumor’s ability to burn testosterone as fuel, according to new research.
Researchers Uncover Mechanism by Which Prostate Cancer Becomes Resistant
Prostate cancer is common cancer among men. Despite the benefits of androgen deprivation therapy, drug resistance is common. Now researchers report they have discovered a mechanism by which prostate cancer cells become resistant through acetylation of the androgen receptor (AR) protein and identified a potential treatment approach that could overcome this resistance.
NXTAR, RNA molecule suppresses prostate tumor growth
A study from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis has identified an RNA molecule that suppresses prostate tumors. According to the research — restoring this so-called long noncoding RNA, NXTAR, could be a new strategy to treat prostate cancer that has developed resistance to hormonal therapies.
CDMRP – Transforming Healthcare through Innovative and Impactful Research
Researchers identify inhibitor that overcomes drug resistance in prostate cancer AR protein production in the presence of enzalutamide through ACK1-mediated histone phosphorylation is a new finding. The new inhibitor, (R)-9b, that the research team has developed could become a new therapeutic modality, especially for those patients not responsive to enzalutamide or have developed resistance to it. The compound will be in clinical trials in 1-2 years.
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE – Congressionally Directed medical Research programs
NCI NIH 2012
Cancer cells have ‘hijacked’ histone modification mechanism to lower histone levels and thus activate the growth and survival of cancer cells. The research team discovered that a modified histone itself regulates histone synthesis. The modification is histone H2B phosphorylation (in this case the process of adding a phosphate to a protein molecule) at tyrosine 37 (tyrosine is one of the amino acids), which is critical for suppression of core histone mRNA synthesis.The significance of this process in cancer cells became evident when they identified a tyrosine kinase, WEE1, as being a critical regulator of the process.
