Dr. Chandra on Evaluating Biological Differences in African Americans With Prostate Cancer

Dhyan Chandra, PhD, associate professor of oncology, Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, member, PhD Program in Cancer Sciences, Experimental Therapeutics Track, member, Developmental Therapeutics of Comprehensive Cancer Center Support Grant Program, member, Breast, Lung, Genitourinary, and Gastrointestinal Translational Research Groups, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, discusses evaluating biological differences between African American and Caucasian men with prostate cancer.

Significant progress has been made in addressing racial disparities in prostate cancer, particularly regarding molecular differences, Chandra explains. However, as it is known that differences in prostate cancer are multifactorial, research evaluating biological differences was needed.

Recently, Dr Chandra received a 2-year grant from the American Cancer Society to evaluate cytochrome c deficiency in African American men. Cytochrome c is a mitochondrial protein that is less prevalent in African American men and limits the efficacy of standard prostate cancer therapies, Chandra explains. Cytochrome c has 2 functions: ATP production and apoptosis. Increasing the production of cytochrome c in these patients may effectively kill cancer cells and begin to bridge racial disparities in this disease, Chandra concludes.