Understanding the biology of lethal prostate cancer to tailor treatment for patients

Jana's grant is funded by the Denton Family Trust and Cancer Australia through the Priority-driven Collaborative Cancer Research Scheme.

Jana is based at the Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health.

What is prostate cancer?

Prostate cancer is one of the most common types of cancer for men. Research suggests that 1 in 6 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer by the age of 85. As the most common patient of this cancer type is an elderly male, the methods of treatment can be even more life-threatening. An example of this would be a prostate specific antigen screening (PSA) which is commonly used to diagnose prostate cancer. This particular method has been found to have some potentially harmful side effects on the patients who receive it.

The research

For the first time in cancer research, Dr Jana and her team have identified the Iroquois Homeobox 4 (IRX4) (a gene highly expressed in prostate cancer), as a modulator of the androgen receptor. With this discovery, she is optimistic that molecular therapies and future drug programs may be developed to treat resistant prostate cancer cells by understanding the IRX4 gene's role in prostate cancer progression better.

“In this study, we aim to understand the role of IRX4 in effective androgen (male sex hormone) signalling and therefore identify its potential to be used as a therapeutic target for prostate cancer treatment.”

Dr Jana seeks to identify better biomarkers for prostate cancer diagnosis and prognosis, thereby potentially reducing or eliminating the need to screen with PSA and risking overtreatment. Moreover, identifying the potential of IRX4 transcript variants to be used as a therapeutic target could help improve current clinical management approaches.

“Even though direct targeting of transcription factors is historically considered ‘undruggable’, some transcription factor inhibitors, currently in clinical development or in clinical trials, and therefore identify as a promising anticancer therapy.”

Why is cancer research funding so important?

Dr Jana’s research will contribute towards understanding the biology of lethal prostate cancer and eventually identify novel targets for molecular therapies for treatment-resistant prostate cancer. 

“I want to focus on understanding the biology of aggressive and treatment-resistant prostate cancer and developing better therapeutic options for those patients with advanced prostate cancer, for whom the five-year survival rate is only 28%.”

Being an early career researcher

Jana shares her thoughts on the importance of Early Career Researcher grants:

“I find securing funding is one of the biggest hurdles for Early Career Researchers, also for other categories as well. I have seen lots of talented academic researchers leave for different jobs due to lack of funding and uncertainty after a few years, which is heart-breaking. Funding opportunities specifically targeting Early Career Researchers, such as Cure Cancer, gives us hope and chance to fight this battle to establish ourselves as independent researchers.”

About Dr Jana

Jana is currently working as a Senior Research Officer at the Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health. She loves to read novels and watch movies in her spare time when she’s not keeping up with her two-year-old son.

“Understanding the biology of lethal prostate cancer to tailor treatment for patients.”

Together, we can cure cancer.

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