# Precision Interception of Aggressive Prostate Cancer in African American Men

> **NIH NIH P20** · DANA-FARBER CANCER INST · 2020 · $202,736

## Abstract

PROJECT 1 SUMMARY
 Men of African descent have the highest rates of prostate cancer incidence and mortality compared
with all other ethnic and racial groups. In African American men, the age-adjusted incidence is 251.9 per
100,000 compared with 173.5 per 100,000 in men of European descent. For men living in African countries,
these rates are of even more concern, with a three-fold higher mortality compared with patients in the United
States and Europe. This trend has been partly attributed to socio-economic factors, inadequate access to
healthcare, and the known differences in genetic factors.
 Recently, our group has studied genomic biomarkers in men with aggressive prostate cancer, and
reported that the expression of a subset of these biomarkers was race-specific. Our central hypothesis is that
aggressive prostate cancer in African American men may arise from distinct molecular subtype(s) as such
respond to treatment differently. However, there are no biomarker tools to identify this subset of at-risk African
American men with aggressive disease because most of these biomarkers have been mainly derived from
tissue from men of European origin. To this end, our goal is to develop a race-specific biomarker-driven tool
that can: 1) identify the subset of African American patients origin with aggressive disease and “fast track”
these patients to more aggressive treatment schedules; and 2) provide actionable targets to develop new
effective treatments for this high risk population. To achieve this goal, we propose the following specific aims:
first, we will characterize the genomic risk profile of prostate cancer in highly screened US men (of European
and African heritage) versus less-screened native African men living in West Africa; second, we will develop
and independently validate a biomarker signature that can predict aggressive prostate cancer in African
American men. A third future aim is to implement and prospectively validate biomarker-based risk-adapted
treatments within ongoing clinical studies.
 Our project uses innovative methods to conduct this comparative evaluation, which has the potential to
develop predictive molecular signatures that can help identify African American men with aggressive prostate
cancer who may respond better to more intensified treatment schedules or other novel treatments. In addition,
validating the putative biomarkers in a cohort of native African men with prostate cancer will enrich for true
biomarkers of greater sensitivity for detecting aggressive phenotypes in men of African origin. The ability to
identify a subset of men who harbor aggressive disease will improve clinical trial design, and open avenues for
testing new or optimized treatments, thus improving outcomes in this high risk patient population.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9994872
- **Project number:** 5P20CA233255-03
- **Recipient organization:** DANA-FARBER CANCER INST
- **Principal Investigator:** Kosj Yamoah
- **Activity code:** P20 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $202,736
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** — → 2022-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9994872

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9994872, Precision Interception of Aggressive Prostate Cancer in African American Men (5P20CA233255-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-21 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9994872. Licensed CC0.

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