African American men face a higher risk of developing and dying from prostate cancer. While this disparity is due in part to socioeconomic and environmental factors, recent studies suggest that genetic and epigenetic factors also contribute—particularly genetic differences in the androgen receptor (AR) gene, which plays a key role in prostate cancer tumorigenesis. The binding of androgen hormones to AR protein in prostate cells triggers the androgen signaling pathway, which regulates cell behavior in the prostate.

Zijie Sun, M.D., Ph.D., has been awarded a five-year, $2.69 million grant from the National Cancer Institute to study how aberrant activation of the androgen signaling pathway through the AR gene contributes to prostate cancer in African American men. Specifically, Dr. Sun and his research team will investigate whether aberrant androgen signaling in prostate epithelial tumor cells and their adjacent stromal cells initiate prostate cancer and promote its progression and resistance to hormone therapy by dysregulating the insulin-like growth factor-1 and Wnt signaling pathways. Their study will use newly developed animal models, human prostate-cancer samples, single-cell RNA sequencing, and other approaches. The research has the potential to lead to new treatment strategies for improving clinical outcomes for African American men with prostate cancer.

Dr. Sun is professor of oncology, of cell biology, and is director of the prostate cancer program at the National Cancer Institute-designated Montefiore Einstein Comprehensive Cancer Center. (1R01CA288392-01)