Boston groups score prostate cancer research funds

Four research teams based in Boston are among eight groups that have garnered $19 million in grants from a foundation focused on discovering new treatments for recurrent prostate cancer.

The Prostate Cancer Foundation, a philanthropy based in Santa Monica, Calif., announced its 2008 Challenge Awards, which will be distributed to each program in three annual payments of $500,000 to $1 million.

The lead investigators from Boston, their institutions, and their projects are:

Dr. Steven P. Balk, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and Dr. Peter S. Nelson, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, University of Washington: studying the reduction of androgens, or testosterone hormones, in tumor tissues from patients who are taking a new form of androgen-production inhibitor.

Dr. Levi A. Garraway, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT; Dr. Todd R. Golub, Broad Institute; Dr. William C. Hahn, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Broad Institute: using genetic methods to discover new drugs to target cancer-promoting factors in normal prostate cells.

Dr. Daniel Haber, Massachusetts General Hospital: refining a system to measure tumor cells in patients' blood that would signal disease progression and improve treatment choices.

Dr. Matthew R. Smith, Massachusetts General Hospital: examining the side effects of androgen-reduction treatments for advanced prostate cancer -- obesity, diabetes, bone fractures, and heart disease -- and how to limit them with exercise, nutrition, and new medications.