The Bing Professorship of Urologic Research will provide leadership in the investigation specifically of prostate cancer. Sawyers will continue his pioneering molecular biology studies to understand how prostate cancer develops. He found that a specific gene, responsible for suppressing tumor growth, has been turned off in half the cases of advanced prostate cancer. According to Sawyers, without this gene to stop malignant tumors from forming, the cancer may spread more rapidly. Current studies focus on identifying drugs to target the signals that turn this gene on and off, leading to new treatment options.
Prostate cancer is one of the most common cancers found in men today.
With more than 132,000 new cases diagnosed annually, the race is on to find better ways to diagnose and treat the disease. Kidney cancer affects more than 30,000 men and women in the United States each year and causes about 12,000 deaths annually .