Skip to main content

Main menu

  • About Us
    • Leadership
    • Our Team
    • Vision, Mission and Values
    • Health and Economic Impact
    • Research Impact Video
    • Strategic Plan
  • Our Research
    • Research Focus
      • Brain Health
      • Cancer
      • Digital Health and Artificial Intelligence
      • Heart Health
      • Healthy Aging and Mobility
      • Immune System
      • Injury and Rehabilitation
      • Lung Health
      • Mental Health and Substance Use
    • Research Centres and Programs
      • BC Centre on Substance Use
      • Centre for Aging SMART
      • Centre for Cardiovascular Innovation
      • Centre for Clinical Epidemiology and Evaluation
      • Centre for Lung Health
      • Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health
      • Immunity and Infection Research Centre
      • International Collaboration On Repair Discoveries
      • M. H. Mohseni Institute of Urologic Sciences
      • Ovarian Cancer Research Centre
      • Community Research Program
      • Emergency Medicine Research Program
      • Hematology Research Program
      • Skin Research Program
      • Other Research Focus Areas
    • News and Stories
    • Researcher Directory
    • Events and Workshops
  • Research Services
    • New to VCHRI
      • Working at VCHRI
      • Regulations and Training
      • Membership with VCHRI
      • Learning and Development
    • Starting Your Project
      • Research Facilitation
      • Awards and Funding
      • Grant Management
      • Operational Approval
      • CST Cerner
    • Developing Your Project
      • Clinical Trials Administration
      • Clinical Research Unit
      • Research Privacy
      • Financial Policies and Procedures
    • Additional Support
      • Indigenous Health Research Unit
      • VCH-VCHRI AI Hub
      • Communications and Media Relations
      • Study Recruitment Support
      • Innovation and Industry Partnership
    • Internal Awards
    • Clinical Research
    • Indigenous Research
  • Participate in Research
    • Reasons to Participate
    • Participant Stories
    • Find a Study
    • Recruitment Support

User menu

  • Log in

Breadcrumb

  1. Home
  2. Our Research
  3. News and Stories
  4. A roadmap for individualized malignant prostate cancer care

A roadmap for individualized malignant prostate cancer care

Stories Jan 4, 2024 3 minutes

Pioneering research traces the branching path of de novo metastatic prostate cancer, uncovering new management paradigms.

The sudden onset and severity of de novo metastatic prostate cancer makes it one of the deadliest cancers affecting men. Characterised by additional aggressive cancer lesions in other parts of the body, the condition is found in around five to 10 per cent of prostate cancer patients at the time they are first diagnosed.

A groundbreaking study led by Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute researcher Dr. Alexander Wyatt is the first to indicate that cancer complexity within the prostate may be driving tumour proliferation in this patient population more than previously understood. Published in the journal Nature Cancer, this finding paves the way for new inroads in the development of precision treatments for de novo metastatic prostate cancer, as well as other aggressive cancers.

Dr. Alexander Wyatt is an associate professor in the Department of Urologic Sciences at the University of British Columbia and a senior research scientist with the Vancouver Prostate Centre and with BC Cancer.

“Because the danger from the spread of tumours in de novo metastatic prostate cancer is so pressing, treatment has often been directed more to targeting the metastatic cancer throughout the body than on the origins of the cancer within the prostate,” notes Wyatt. “However, we found that the diverse pool of cancer cells found within the prostate could be associated with multiple waves of cancer spread throughout the body, along with sources of treatment resistance.”

"This discovery indicates that there could be a biological and clinical rationale to remove or ablate the prostate to limit further spread of metastatic disease.”

Using the analogy of a tree, Wyatt explains that the original prostate cancer can be thought of as the tree trunk. Cancers that spread from the prostate to other areas of the body — such as the lymph nodes, bones and lungs — are its branches. So long as the trunk exists, the tree can continue to produce new branches. However, destroy the trunk, i.e., through the removal or destruction of the prostate itself, and a primary cancer driver could be cut off. 

Collaboration supported groundbreaking prostate cancer research findings

A key to Wyatt’s research findings was having rare access to a pool of over 600 biological samples from 43 patients diagnosed with de novo metastatic prostate cancer. In collaboration with a team of Belgian researchers led by Dr. Piet Ost, Wyatt and his team at the Vancouver Prostate Centre were able to analyze the whole prostates, along with pelvic lymph nodes and blood samples, of patients from a Belgian study. 

Due to the severity of the disease, de novo metastatic prostate cancer patients often do not undergo surgery to remove the prostate, but instead immediately receive hormone therapy and sometimes radiation to treat the presence of tumours throughout the body. However, the Belgian study involved the removal of the whole prostate and pelvic lymph nodes prior to subsequent treatments, giving Wyatt’s team a glimpse of these tissues soon after diagnosis.

Access to the whole prostate was a crucial piece of the puzzle to understanding the development and spread of the disease. Wyatt and his team discovered that biopsies of several different regions were required to see the full breadth of cancer variation within a single prostate, as different areas contained divergent cancer mutations.

“One of the unique aspects of our study is that colleagues in Belgium made available to us a rare library of tissue and blood samples from de novo metastatic prostate cancer patients.”

Thanks to these tissue and blood samples, Wyatt and his team developed a roadmap of the spreading branches of cancer from the prostate.

“While we developed this roadmap for prostate cancer, it may well have applications in other forms of cancer,” Wyatt adds.

The team is now applying their roadmap to study blood and tissue samples from approximately 500 de novo metastatic prostate cancer patients in British Columbia. With access to two to eight biopsy cores from the prostate of each patient, the team will have greater than average biological source material to study cancer mutations and heterogeneity. 

“We expect that these findings will heighten the attention given to cancer variation as a driver of metastatic prostate cancer,” Wyatt says. “In addition, it is anticipated that downstream changes to clinical best practices may include the collection and analysis of additional prostate biopsies from each patient to better inform treatment decision-making.”

“These insights will help to further advances in the development of individualized prostate cancer care.” 

Researchers

Alexander Wyatt

Related Articles

Discovery offers new insights to understand and treat prostate cancer

New tool informs breast reconstruction decision-making

Pulsed lasers for cancer destruction

Share:

  • Facebook
  • Linkedin
  • Twitter
  • Email

Related Research Centres/Programs

Vancouver Prostate Centre

Get the latest research headlines in your inbox

Subscribe

Recent News and Stories

Type
Announcement

Celebrating the life and distinguished career of Dr. Marcel Dvorak

May 14, 2025
Type
Stories

More equitable representation needed in Parkinson’s research

May 9, 2025 parkinsons, patient engagement, women
Type
Stories

Gamified stroke recovery improves arm function

May 8, 2025 stroke, rehabilitation
See more news

Get updates!

Join our newsletter mailing list to stay up to date on features and releases.

Subscribe

Quick Links

  • News and Stories
  • Careers
  • Events
  • Media Enquiries

Follow Us

  • LinkedIn
  • X
  • YouTube

© 2025 VCHRI. All rights reserved.

  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy