EVALUATION OF NEW BIOMARKERS AND IDENTIFICATION OF CANCER TARGETED THERAPY FOR CANINE PROSTATIC CARCINOMA

• Grant number: 24/05997-8
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Doctorate
• Start date: August 08, 2024
• End date: July 31, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Biology
• Principal Investigator: Carlos Eduardo Fonseca Alves
• Grantee: Alexandre Matheus Baesso Cavalca
• Supervisor: Marxa Leao Figueiredo
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária e Zootecnia (FMVZ). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Botucatu. Botucatu , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Purdue University, United States
• Associated to the scholarship: 22/00593-0 - Identification of new predictive targets with translational potential for canine and human prostatic carcinoma, BP.DR

Abstract

The prostate gland is an organ subjected to aging-related diseases and both benign andmalignant prostatic disorders are among the most common diseases affecting men. Thereare a wide variety of treatment options for the diagnosis of prostate cancer in humans,depending on the risk category the disease falls into. The dog is the only mammal, besidesman, that spontaneously develops canine prostatic hyperplasia (PH), prostatic atrophy,and prostatic carcinoma (PCa), associated with age, androgenic hormones, in addition topre-neoplastic lesions. However, in contrast to PCa in humans, PCa in dogs is notandrogen-dependent, therefore androgen deprivation therapy is ineffective, thuspromoting the development of castration-resistant prostatic carcinoma (CRPC). Manytreatment modalities typically used in human PCa cannot be applied in CPRC. Regardingdogs, unfortunately, there is still no effective therapy for the treatment of these tumors,where the pharmacological treatments available are scarce, based summarily on theprescription of anti-inflammatory drugs, and with a low degree of survival. Thus, there isa necessity to carry out new translational studies in human and canine PCa samples,aiming at the identification of predictive markers and potential common therapeutictargets, elucidating the antitumor effect of existing drugs, and aiming at the developmentof novel and more effective targeted therapies.