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U.S. National Institutes of Health
Last Updated: 03/05/12

Prostate SPOREs

In 2011, it is estimated that over 240,000 new cases of prostate cancer and over 33,000 deaths will be reported in the United States.  As part of an NCI-wide program aimed at identifying new opportunities in prostate cancer research, the NCI has expanded the prostate cancer SPORE program from two funded SPOREs in 1992 to eleven prostate SPOREs by the year 2002.  This program has developed new scientific approaches in early detection, diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis of human prostate cancer.  The SPOREs in prostate cancer have evolved into a collaborative network, conducting their inter-SPORE scientific studies for the clinical evaluation of biomarkers, early phase clinical trials of anti-prostate cancer agents, and the development of inter-institutional systems to accelerate prostate cancer research.

Accomplishments of the SPOREs in Prostate Cancer include the development of new oncogene and knockout transgenic mouse models of prostate cancer as well as the development of new xenograph models.  The Partin tables for staging, the Kattan nomograms for prognosis, and the adaptation of PSA dynamics as surrogate markers for survival are now contributing to the clinical assessment of patients.  A number of new serum and tissue markers have been discovered, developed and translated to clinical use.  Recent seminal finding emerging from the Prostate SPOREs is the discovery of ETS family gene translocations in prostate cancer, the first common casual gene translocation to be identified in a major human solid tumor.  A highly promising therapeutic development is the synthesis and clinical evaluation of second-generation antiandrogens for treatment of advanced prostate cancer.

The SPOREs in prostate cancer have evolved into a highly collaborative network, and play a central role advancing translational cancer research with academia, industry, different government agencies, as well as with the international research community.

Dana-Farber Harvard Cancer Institute

Philip Kantoff, MD [Click Here]
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Harvard Medical School
Medicine Oncology, DANA 1230
44 Binney Street
Boston, MA 02115
Tel: (617) 632-3466
Fax: (617) 632-2165
Email: philip_kantoff@dfci.harvard.edu

For more information on this specific SPORE’s institution, please visit:
http://www.dfhcc.harvard.edu/spores/

Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center

Peter Nelson, MD [Click Here]
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
Division of Human Biology
1100 Fairview Avenue North, D4-100
PO Box 19024
Seattle, WA 98109-1024
Tel: (206) 667-3377
Fax: (206) 667-2917
Email: pnelson@fhcrc.org

For more information on this specific SPORE’s institution, please visit:
http://prostatespore.fhcrc.org/

Johns Hopkins University

William Nelson, MD, PhD [Click Here]
Department of Oncology
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Blunting Blaustein Building, Room 151
1650 Orleans Street
Baltimore, MD 21231
Tel: (410) 614-1661
Fax: (410) 502-9817
Email: bnelson@jhmi.edu

For more information on this specific SPORE’s institution, please visit:
http://urology.jhu.edu/research/index.php

Mayo Clinic, Rochester

Donald J. Tindall, PhD [Click Here]
Director and Vice Chair of Urologic Research
Department of Urology, Biochemistry, and Molecular Biology
Mayo Clinic and Foundation
200 First Street Southwest
Gyggebgeun Building, Room 1742C
Rochester, MN 55905
Tel: (507) 284-8139
Fax: (507) 284-2384
Email: tindall.donald@mayo.edu

For more information on this specific SPORE’s institution, please visit:
http://mayoresearch.mayo.edu/mayo/research/prostate_program/

Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center

Howard Scher, MD [Click Here]
Chair, Urology Department
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
1275 York Avenue
New York, NY 10021
Tel: (212) 639-4322
Fax: (212) 422-1095

For more information on this specific SPORE’s institution, please visit:
http://www.mskcc.org/mskcc/html/60528.cfm

Northwestern University

Chung Lee, PhD [Click Here]
Professor in Urology
Feinberg School of Medicine
Northwestern University
303 East Chicago Avenue
Tarry Building 16-733
Chicago, Illinois 60611
Tel: (312) 908-8145
Fax: (312) 908-7275
Email: c-lee7@northwestern.edu

For more information on this SPORE, please visit:
http://www.cancer.northwestern.edu/research/research_programs/spore/index.cfm

University of California, Los Angeles

Robert Reiter, MD, MBA [Click Here]
University of California, Los Angeles
Department of Urology
10833 Le Conte Ave, Box 951738
Los Angeles, CA 90095
Tel: (310) 794-7224
Fax: (310) 206-5343
Email: rreiter@mednet.ucla.edu

For more information on this specific SPORE’s institution, please visit:
http://urology.ucla.edu/body.cfm?id=229

University of Michigan

Kenneth J. Pienta, MD [Click Here]
University of Michigan
Department of Internal Medicine
1500 East Medical Center Drive
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109
Tel: (734) 647-3421
Fax: (734) 647-9480
Email: kpienta@umich.edu

For more information on this specific SPORE’s institution, please visit:
http://www.cancer.med.umich.edu/research/uro_spore.shtml

University of Texas/MD Anderson

Christopher Logothetis, MD [Click Here]
Chairman and Professor
University of Texas
M. D. Anderson Cancer Center
Department of Genitourinary Medical Oncology
1515 Holocombe Boulevard
Houston, TX 77030
Tel: (713) 792-2830
Fax: (713) 745-7625
Email: clogothe@mdanderson.org

For more information on this specific SPORE’s institution, please visit:
http://www.mdanderson.org/education-and-research/research-at-md-anderson/early-detection-and-treatment/research-programs/spores/ prostate-cancer-spore/index.html