# Targeted delivery of multimodal therapy for reducing prostate cancer disparity

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA AT BIRMINGHAM · 2022 · $386,974

## Abstract

Project Summary
Among all racial groups, African American men have the highest rate of prostate cancer, and their cancers exhibit
a more aggressive biology, leading to higher rates of death. Although systemic treatments have been developed
for this disease, these are primarily palliative; additional treatment strategies need to be developed. The major
objective of this proposed project is to develop new targeted therapeutics to improve treatment of patients with
advanced prostate cancer, including African American patients who have a particularly worse prognosis and
whose tumors harbor more of an inflammatory and immune signature. CD24, a cell-surface glycoprotein, is not
expressed in normal prostate epithelial cells but is expressed in approximately 50% of prostate cancers and in
60-66% of African American prostate cancers. For humans and mice, CD24 expression is associated with
prostate cancer metastasis, and for patients with prostate cancer, over-expression of CD24 is associated with
tumor metastasis and poor prognosis. Notably, a CD24-p53 axis contributes to African American prostate cancer
disparities. In addition, CD24 is the dominant innate immune checkpoint in human cancers and is a promising
target for cancer immunotherapy. Thus, CD24 may have dual functions as a cell-intrinsic oncogene and an
immune suppressor, and it is a potential therapeutic target for patients with metastatic, castration-resistant
prostate cancers. We hypothesize that targeting the CD24-p53 axis is an effective therapy for African Americans
with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. In this application, we propose a) to synthesize and
characterize multifunctional nanoparticles for targeted delivery of anti-CD24 antibody and PRIMA1 (a p53
inducer), b) to evaluate targeted delivery of CD24/p53 targeted multimodal therapy to reduce prostate cancer
racial disparities, and c) to determine the molecular mechanisms of the targeted therapy. Our proposed work is
expected to establish CD24 as a new therapeutic target and to demonstrate a new therapy that meets the needs
of African American patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10342540
- **Project number:** 1R01CA265937-01
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA AT BIRMINGHAM
- **Principal Investigator:** Runhua Runa Liu
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $386,974
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2021-12-09 → 2026-11-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10342540

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10342540, Targeted delivery of multimodal therapy for reducing prostate cancer disparity (1R01CA265937-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10342540. Licensed CC0.

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