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Johng Rhim, M.D., Wins Funding for Human Cell Model Research
November 1, 2004
Johng S. Rhim, M.D.,
Associate Director of CPDR and Director of the CPDR Prostate Cell Center,
recently received notice from the Department of Defense Prostate Cancer
Research Program (PCRP) that his project, “Development of a Human
Cell Model for the Study of Familial Prostate Cancer,” has been
recommended for funding.
In cases of familial prostate cancer, the patient has one or more family
members who have also been diagnosed with or show symptoms of the disease.
Familial prostate cancer constitutes 9 percent of all prostate cancer
cases. Dr. Rhim’s project takes tumor specimens from such patients
and generates in vitro cell lines, which are living, permanently propagating
cells maintained and characterized in the laboratory. Ordinarily, primary
tumor cells are able to reproduce through several cycles and then senesce,
or die. The special value of Dr. Rhim’s work is two-fold. First,
as reported in the August
2001 issue of Cancer Research, Dr. Rhim is the first researcher to
develop a familial prostate cancer cell line. Second, Dr. Rhim has refined
a technique using telomerase, the gene that prevents senescence in (or
“immortalizes”) the cell line and thereby ensures that it
can reproduce itself indefinitely. Importantly, unlike with similar techniques
to induce immortalization that use viral genes, the use of telomerase
does not introduce oncogenic viral DNA that can cause cytogenic changes
that distort the scientific observation and analysis of the cells.
Through this technique, Dr. Rhim is able to produce a highly valuable
resource for the study of familial prostate cancer. Indeed, the award
Dr. Rhim has received from the PCRP is in the category of Exploration
-- Resource Development Awards. When the project is successfully completed,
Dr. Rhim and CPDR will make this resource available to the broad scientific
community studying familial prostate cancer. Dr. Rhim and researchers
at other institutions will study these immortalized familial cancer cells
to better determine what characteristics of these cells predispose them
to develop prostate cancer. It will also be possible to test preventive
and therapeutic agents to combat prostate cancer.
Dr. Rhim’s 2004 award from the PCRP builds upon his success in 2003,
when he secured a similar award from the PCRP to develop a human cell
model for the study of high risk African American prostate cancer. Both
lines of inquiry are expected to facilitate substantial progress in the
study of prostate cancer.
The CPDR mission is fulfilled primarily through its three principal programs – the Clinical Research Center, the Basic Science Research Program and the National Multicenter Prostate Cancer Database– and through a robust education and training program that operates out of its Headquarters location, the Clinical Research Center, and the original laboratories at USUHS. CPDR is also committed to patient outreach, primarily through its affiliation with the WRAMC US TOO! organization and through a heavy schedule of health fairs in which it participates.
