Prostate Cancer

Mayo Clinic is a world leader in prostate cancer treatment and research and has curated a large repository of prostate cancer information, including an extensive store of clinical data and tissue and serum samples.

The key to curing prostate cancer is early diagnosis. Thanks to improved screening and early detection, many men with prostate cancer are diagnosed when the cancer is still contained, often allowing a cure through either surgery or radiation.

Researchers in the Department of Urology and throughout Mayo Clinic are committed to improving options for patients with urologic cancers such as prostate cancer. We conduct research to better understand cancer biology and to find ways to better target cancer cells with both surgical and nonsurgical approaches.

Areas of research in prostate cancer include:

  • Regulation of the androgen receptor gene in prostate cancer cells and other androgen-regulated cells
  • Identification of genes in normal and malignant prostate tissue using electronic profiling of expressed sequence tags and DNA microarray chip technology
  • Detection of prostate cancer with different forms of prostate-specific genes
  • Expression of genes such as the tumor suppressor protein PTEN and the cell survival protein Bcl-2 that are associated with tumor progression
  • Cellular pathways important to the regulation of cellular growth, such as the androgen receptor and the PI3K signaling pathways, which play key roles in prostate cancer that doesn't respond to hormonal therapies
  • Continued work on the interaction between two cellular proteins, Skp2 and FOXO1
  • Evaluation of biomarkers for prognosis in men treated by prostatectomy or radiation

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