University of Windsor scientists lead team battling prostate cancer

The University of Windsor sign is shown in this file photo in Windsor, Ont., on Nov.16. 2012. (Melanie Borrelli / CTV Windsor)

Scientists at the University of Windsor are leading a team of researchers in the battle against prostate cancer.

Dr. Lisa Porter and Dr. John Trant of the university are working with an international group to find methods of pinpointing aggressive drug-resistant forms of the disease. The aim of the research is to identify alternative protein-markers present in the cancer, thereby increasing the likelihood of an accurate diagnosis.

So far, the team has developed a fluorescent probe that can identify proteins that are unique to the aggressive neuroendocrine form of prostate cancer. It is the type of malignancy that is not detectable by the standard PSMA test that doctors use.

For Dr. Porter, the findings are promising.

"The multidisciplinary approach that we used here also used some new models - so, we used this cool little fish model where we can actually put human cells into the fish and look and see how the tumors evolve,” said Dr. Porter.

“So, this kind of model could be something that we can use for other types of cancers as well."

Dr. Porter is the director of the WE-SPARK Health Institute, a networking health and research science organization that works to implement local research findings from the lab into clinical environments that could help treat patients in the Windsor-Essex community.

“If we can catch this progression early, we can save a life – we want to help people detect their cancers faster,” said Dr. Porter.

You can learn more about Dr. Porter’s work as a research scientist and University of Windsor professor at porterlab.com/