UCI receives millions for prostate research

UC Irvine has received $9.5 million in research money from the National Cancer Institute to develop a method for predicting the outcome of prostate cancer.

The five-year grant, one of six that the institute gave out this year nationwide, is among the 10 largest research grants in UCI’s history.

Dan Mercola, a professor of pathology and laboratory medicine at UCI’s School of Medicine, will spearhead the project, which will also involve researchers from UC San Diego, Northwestern University, the Scripps Research Institute and others.

The goal of Mercola’s research is to develop a “gene signature” of prostate cancer for patients in the early stages of treatment. The method will let patients know if they have an aggressive form of cancer, which may require radiation and other major treatments, or a milder version.

“We are aiming to meet a critical unmet need in prostate cancer treatment,” Mercola said in a release. “Up to 30% 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.”

The other institutions this year to receive National Cancer Institute grants are the Children’s Hospital in Los Angeles, the University of Nebraska Medical Center, the University of New Mexico, the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center in Nashville and the Washington University Department of Medicine.