Dr. Chandra on Assessing Mitochondrial Function to Inform Outcomes in Prostate Cancer

Dhyan Chandra, PhD, associate professor of oncology, Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, member, PhD Program in Cancer Sciences, Experimental Therapeutics Track, member, Developmental Therapeutics of Comprehensive Cancer Center Support Grant Program, member, Breast, Lung, Genitourinary, and Gastrointestinal Translational Research Groups, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, discusses the potential to assess mitochondrial function to inform outcomes in prostate cancer.

The field of prostate cancer is making efforts to bridge racial disparities among patients, Chandra says. For example, Dr Chandra received a 2-year grant from the American Cancer Society to study cytochrome c deficiency in African American men, who have a lack of mitochondrial function.

Understanding the role of mitochondrial function based on cytochrome c levels in patients with prostate cancer, regardless of race, is needed, Chandra explains. In the clinical setting, performing blood tests for patients with prostate cancer to determine their cytochrome c levels may be helpful in informing whether they are likely to respond to available therapy. Moreover, this may be a simple step that can be taken for all patients with prostate cancer to begin to bridge racial disparities in the field, Chandra concludes.