# Disrupting the Prostate Tumor Microenvironment in African American Men to Promote Response to Immuno-Modulatory Therapy

> **NIH NIH R37** · H. LEE MOFFITT CANCER CTR & RES INST · 2023 · $654,412

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
African-American men (AAM) are known to present with more advanced disease resulting from both biological
and socio-economic factors. Specific to biological factors, there is emerging data suggesting that AAM with
prostate cancer (PCa) have an immunosuppressive tumor immune microenvironment (TIME) characterized by
low DNA damage repair and high IFN-response pathway. Consequently, immune mediators and DNA damage
response may play a major role in PCa biology in AAM. The mechanism and potential therapeutic benefit of
combining immune modulators to disrupt the TIME for therapeutic gain in AAM with PCa is an area of active
investigation. Furthermore, whether immune-modulatory therapy has differential effects on immune cell-types
within the TIME of AAM vs. European-American men (EAM) is currently unknown. The proposed studies in this
application will first computationally deconvolute the TIME of AAM and EAM highlighting the functional
characteristics of key immune cells and soluble immune mediators. To overcome the limitation of cell line models,
we will use a novel bioengineered platform to study tumor-immune interactions and mechanistically define how
differences in the STING-IFN response pathway impacts response and/or resistance to immune modulators.
Next, we will evaluate how differences in the TIME from AAM and EAM may affect the therapeutic response to
immune-modulators using patient-derived explants – a unique ex-vivo model from fresh viable surgical
specimens. Importantly, we will also validate these results in serial patient-derived biopsies and blood samples
that have been collected as part of a phase II clinical study combining ADT, RT and immunotherapy
(NCT03543189). These studies will unravel mechanisms that can be exploited to identify new therapeutic
approaches to improve outcomes in AAM with PCa.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10695213
- **Project number:** 5R37CA264518-02
- **Recipient organization:** H. LEE MOFFITT CANCER CTR & RES INST
- **Principal Investigator:** Kosj Yamoah
- **Activity code:** R37 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2023
- **Award amount:** $654,412
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2022-09-01 → 2027-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10695213

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10695213, Disrupting the Prostate Tumor Microenvironment in African American Men to Promote Response to Immuno-Modulatory Therapy (5R37CA264518-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-21 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10695213. Licensed CC0.

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