Dr. Spiess on the Rationale for Investigating the MTAP Pathway in Genitourinary Cancers

Philippe E. Spiess, MD, MS, FACS, genitourinary oncologist, assistant chief, Surgical Services, Moffitt Cancer Center, full professor of Oncology, Urology, the University of South Florida, Morsani College of Medicine, discusses the rationale for investigating the MTAP pathway in genitourinary cancers.

Though there are several options for initial treatment in genitourinary cancers, including prostate cancer, bladder cancer, and kidney cancer, limited resources exist beyond those therapies if patients do not respond, Spiess says. To address these needs, researchers have come to understand some of the genetic and biological pathways in these cancers, including the MTAP pathway, which specifically plays a role in carcinogenesis, Spiess adds.

Research aimed to investigate difficult-to-treat subsets of cancers by better understanding the importance of MTAP deletions, Spiess continues. Learning how to target this pathway could help the development and use of certain types of novel therapies, Spiess concludes.