Grant: Travel Awards - Institute Community Support

Each year, 5,000 Canadian men die from prostate cancer that no longer responds to treatment, and 80% of these deaths are due to complications caused by prostate cancer metastases. Prostate cancer most often metastasizes to parts of the skeleton with high blood production, such as the ribs, spine, and ends of long bones. When prostate cancer metastasizes to bone it induces bone matrix reorganization creating areas of abnormally increased and decreased bone density. These changes cause the weakening of the bone leading to severe pain, and fractures, which drastically reduce quality of life and are a major cause of death in these patients. There is no cure for men with metastatic prostate cancer since the cancer evolves in several ways to become resistant to current therapies. How prostate cancer causes the development of bone metastases is unknown. This project aims to uncover ways in which prostate cancer metastasize to the bone by learning about the different protein compositions in pathologically different metastatic prostate cancer. Computational tools will be used to identify differences with different types of metastases and group them into different subtypes. This study will shed light on how prostate cancer changes bone structure at the molecular level, helping to explain the variety of bone damage seen in patients. By connecting protein patterns to bone appearance, we may uncover new ways to identify, monitor, and treat prostate cancer bone metastases. Ultimately, this research could lead to better diagnostic tools, more effective treatments, and improved quality of life for patients with advanced prostate cancer.