Predicting prostate cancer treatment response using tumor DNA from blood
Official title: Evaluating prostate cancer phenotype and genotype classification from circulating tumor DNA as biomarkers for predicting treatment outcomes
Funded at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center · NIH-11143813 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project seeks to find out if analyzing tumor DNA in blood can show which men with advanced prostate cancer will respond to androgen-targeted and PSMA-directed therapies.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Seattle, United States) |
| Project start | September 19, 2023 |
| Project end | August 31, 2028 |
| Funding year | 2025 |
| Award (this year) | $592,110 |
| NIH project number | 5R01CA280056-03 |
| Project ID | NIH-11143813 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Men with advanced or metastatic prostate cancer — especially those whose cancer no longer responds to hormone therapy or who are being considered for ARSI or PSMA-directed treatments — would be ideal candidates.
✕Less likely to help
People with early-stage, localized prostate cancer or those whose tumors do not shed detectable DNA into the blood are unlikely to benefit.
What this research studies
You'll give blood samples so researchers can look for tumor DNA (a "liquid biopsy") instead of relying only on tissue biopsies. They will sequence circulating tumor DNA to identify genetic changes and classify tumor phenotype, and compare those blood findings to tissue results and treatment outcomes. The team will follow patients over time to see if blood DNA changes as tumors become resistant or shift to different cell types like neuroendocrine prostate cancer. The approach aims to capture tumor heterogeneity noninvasively and link blood markers to response to ARSI and PSMA therapies.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this approach could help doctors pick more effective therapies sooner and reduce the need for invasive tissue biopsies.
How similar studies have gone: Liquid biopsy and ctDNA methods have shown promise for detecting genetic resistance in prostate cancer, but applying ctDNA to classify tumor phenotype and predict PSMA-therapy response is relatively new.
Where this research is happening
-
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center
Seattle, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Ha, Gavin — Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center
- Study coordinator: Ha, Gavin
Related research
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.