News – UCI receives $9.5 million prostate cancer grant
UCI receives $9.5 million prostate cancer grant
Grant is among 10th largest received by the school.

By GARY ROBBINS
The Orange County Register

The federal government has awarded UC Irvine $9.5 million to develop a way to forecast the outcome of a person’s prostate cancer at the time they’re diagnosed, campus officials said today.

The grant is among the 10 largest in the university’s history and will be overseen by pathologist Dan Mercola, who will lead a team of scientists from UCI’s School of Medicine.

“The goal of the new study is to develop a ‘gene signature’ of prostate cancer for newly diagosed patients based on a tumor biopsy or blood examination,” UCI says in a news release. “This signature will let patients know if they have an aggressive form of cancer — allowing them to better understand their disease and make crucial decisions for appropriate early-stage treatment.”

Mercola said in the release, “We are aiming to meet a critical unmet need in prostate cancer treatment. Up to 30 perconet of men with prostate cancer do not need radical treatments like radiation or surgery, and this test will allow us to determine who these people are.”

psa-rising note: The money comes from NCI (National Cancer Institute) SPECS award:
http://www.cancer.gov/newscenter/pressreleases/SPECSawards