Researchers Develop System that Finds Prostate Cancer Metastases Earlier
Researchers at UCLA’s Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center have developed a way to image the spread of a dangerous form of prostate cancer earlier than today’s conventional imaging techniques. The new method may allow oncologists to find and treat metastases more quickly and give patients a better chance at survival.
The gene-based imaging system targets castration-resistant prostate cancer, an aggressive form of the disease that has become resistant to the hormone treatment known as androgen-deprivation therapy. Once this treatment no longer works, the cancer will progress within 12 to 18 months, and the prognosis becomes grim, said senior study author Dr. Lily Wu, a professor of molecular and medical pharmacology and a Jonsson Cancer Center researcher. (more…)