The Movember Prostate Cancer Landscape Analysis: an assessment of unmet research needs

Abstract

Prostate cancer is the second most diagnosed solid-organ malignancy in men 1 , with >1.2 million new cases and 358,989 deaths reported worldwide in 2018 (ref. 2). Since 2005, the global men's health charity Movember has invested in a variety of very influential programmes in biomedical research, survivorship and clinical quality and has set ambitious organizational objectives to work with its global partners to halve the number of deaths from prostate cancer and to halve the number of men facing ongoing adverse effects from treatment by 2030. In order to transform these aspirations into reality, Movember needs to understand the gaps and opportunities in the field. Given that the last published analysis of the field was conducted by Tindall and Scardino 3 ~20 years ago, Movember's Global Scientific Committee (GSC) recommended that the Movember Biomedical Research Team commission a formal landscape analysis to assess the international prostate cancer research field in order to optimize future research investment and maximize biomedical research outcomes. The scope of this analysis was restricted to the role of Movember as a funder whose purpose is to positively change clinical practice in the prostate cancer biomedical research field for the benefit of men. In this Consensus Statement, we present the results and conclusions of Movember's prostate cancer global landscape analysis. Methods The Movember prostate cancer landscape analysis commenced in April 2017. A sequential research design was used, in which insights gathered from stakeholder

Mapping Isoform Abundance and Interactome of the Endogenous TMPRSS2-ERG Fusion Protein by Orthogonal Immunoprecipitation–Mass Spectrometry Assays

“…Our ELISA and IP-SRM assays could also facilitate development of ERG isoform-specific immunoassays and evaluate clinical significance (for example, the risk of prostate cancer progression during active surveillance (70)) of total ERG versus isoforms T1E4-ERG and T1E4-ERG_Δ7b in the large cohorts of clinical samples. Collectively, future applications of our IP-SRM assays may well contribute to the precision diagnostics needs prioritized by the Movember Prostate Cancer Landscape Analysis (71).…”

Prospective study of diagnostic accuracy in the detection of high‐grade prostate cancer in biopsy‐naïve patients with clinical suspicion of prostate cancer who underwent the Select MDx test

“…3 However, a reduction in the implementation of these tests has resulted in an increase in the diagnoses of advanced disease 4 ; thus, new recommendations are required to improve PCa screening and diagnosis with more sensitive and specific tests that complement PSA information. 5,6 In line with this, the use of different tools, such as PSA density, risk calculators, and other biomarkers to refine the risk stratification of PCa, is gaining relevance. 7 In this context, advances in liquid biopsy studies have been suggested to improve the selection of patients who should undergo a prostate biopsy to reach a diagnoses of significant prostate cancer (Sig PCa).…”

“…PCa screening and early diagnosis is based on the detection of prostate‐specific antigen (PSA) and a digital rectal examination (DRE), which often results in an overdiagnosis of indolent tumors, with no clear reduction in overall mortality 3 . However, a reduction in the implementation of these tests has resulted in an increase in the diagnoses of advanced disease 4 ; thus, new recommendations are required to improve PCa screening and diagnosis with more sensitive and specific tests that complement PSA information 5,6 …”

Progress in gene therapy treatments for prostate cancer

“…The existing treatments for prostate cancer are often associated with a number of side effects, and these treatments are unable to safely treat late‐stage cancer patients. In light of the rising number of prostate cancer cases, considerable attention has been devoted to types of treatments that may cure prostate tumors, even in cases in which cancer is detected in the advanced stages 5,6 …”

“…In light of the rising number of prostate cancer cases, considerable attention has been devoted to types of treatments that may cure prostate tumors, even in cases in which cancer is detected in the advanced stages. 5,6 Gene therapy is a recently developed therapeutic for treating gene-based diseases. Gene therapy is implemented when a foreign gene carrier delivers a healthy copy of a gene to a host cell in which a mutated copy is present.…”