Notice of Special Interest: Mechanisms Driving Obesity and Prostate Cancer Risk

Notice Number: NOT-CA-25-002

Deadline

This NOSI applies to Application Due Dates on or after February 5, 2025, and subsequent receipt dates through January 7, 2028This NOSI expires January 08, 2028. 

Purpose

The purpose of this NOSI is to promote studies examining the mechanisms by which obesity drives aggressive prostate cancer (PCa) risk. About 80% of overall PCa is non-aggressive. The biologic mechanisms driving both overall and aggressive PCa are uncertain. The identification of differences in the mechanisms driving aggressive vs. overall (mostly non-aggressive) disease are critical to optimizing clinical care among men who develop the disease. PCa has an outsized impact on African Americans who are more likely to develop aggressive disease and twice as likely to die from the disease compared to other racial and ethnic groups.

Research Objectives

Studies should determine if the biologic mechanism(s) driving aggressive vs. non-aggressive PCa are different through the investigation of preclinical models and/or human prostate studies.

Questions important to address for both overall and aggressive PCa include, but are not limited to:

  • What is the role of androgens and estrogens?
  • Do race, age and other clinical factors influence the mechanism(s) driving disease development?
  • How does the insulin/IGF-1 axis influence disease risk?
  • What role do adipokines play in disease risk?
  • How do paracrine effects from PPAT growth factors and adipokines influence risk?

For more information, please see the opportunity webpage.