5 May 2014

Professor Robert Day at Université de Sherbrooke, also researcher at Centre de recherche du CHUS, will receive a $1.5 million grant from Prostate Cancer Canada to continue his work on a promising screening test for prostate cancer.

With this financial contribution, Robert Day and his colleagues, Robert Sabbagh and Michel Carmel, will work on developing and validating a diagnostic test based on the sPACE4 enzyme. Their research has already shown that this enzyme is over-expressed in patients suffering from prostate cancer and that blood levels of this enzyme could correlate with the severity of the disease.

The objective is to determine whether the patient’s risk for this cancer is low or high in order to guide treatment and avoid excessive prostate cancer treatment.

The Sherbrooke researchers aim for clinical trials within three years.

Two other projects based in Toronto and Edmonton will also receive grants for a total financial contribution of close to $5 million, allocated by the Movember Foundation within the context of the Movember TAG (Translational Acceleration Grant) competition.

Sources: Université de Sherbrooke, La Tribune and Prostate Cancer Canada
Photo credit: Université de Sherbrooke