- Cutting-edge prostate cancer projects range from AI-powered diagnosis and risk prediction to targeted therapies that overcome treatment resistance -

LOS ANGELES: The Prostate Cancer Foundation (PCF) today announced the recipients of its 2025 Challenge Awards, providing over $12 million in funding for 12 multi-institutional, cross-disciplinary research teams tackling some of the most pressing challenges in prostate cancer today.

Since its launch in 2008, the Prostate Cancer Foundation’s Challenge Awards program has invested nearly $290 million in cutting-edge projects, driving innovations that have extended and improved the lives of tens of thousands of patients. The 2025 Challenge Awards support teams of scientists developing artificial intelligence tools to improve pathology diagnosis and prognostication, novel immunotherapies to overcome treatment resistance, and new therapeutic strategies-such as combining radiation therapy with targeted drugs-for patients with high-risk gene changes (mutations) that contribute to rapid cancer spread. Other teams are identifying molecular vulnerabilities and new drug targets for the most aggressive, treatment-resistant prostate cancers, a critical area of unmet need.

"The Prostate Cancer Foundation’s Challenge Awards program drives critical breakthroughs that are saving and extending the lives of patients with prostate cancer," said Gina Carithers, President and CEO of the Prostate Cancer Foundation. "The Challenge Awards program is especially vital now, when prostate cancer cases are rising 4.8% year over year and a high percentage of patients have advanced or high-risk disease. We thank our visionary donors for believing in the power of scientific innovation to improve and extend these patients’ lives, and for trusting the Prostate Cancer Foundation to steward each gift for maximum impact."

The Prostate Cancer Foundation Challenge Awards support scientific ideas that are often too bold to receive traditional funding but have a clear line of sight for helping patients sooner. Each Prostate Cancer Foundation Challenge Award is typically $1 million over 2-3 years and requires a minimum of three team members, including one early-career investigator. The 2025 Challenge Awards class was chosen from 106 applicant teams that underwent rigorous peer review for both scientific merit and potential patient impact.

Past Challenge Awards helped lay groundwork for entirely new classes of treatment, including PARP inhibitors and PSMA-targeted radioligand therapy, which now give patients with advanced prostate cancer significantly more time with loved ones and friends and better quality of life. Challenge Awards also have supported teams that are using advanced imaging to help doctors target aggressive tumors with more precise radiation that spares healthy tissue. Other prior Challenge Awards teams are testing cutting-edge treatment combinations-such as pairing PSMA radiation with targeted drugs or new forms of immunotherapy-to control drug-resistant prostate cancer when standard options have run out.

"The Challenge Awards program enables researchers to work across disciplines and institutions in ways that traditional funding mechanisms do not support," said Andrea K. Miyahira, PhD, Vice President of Global Research and Innovation at the Prostate Cancer Foundation. "By streamlining resources, the Prostate Cancer Foundation is driving high-risk, high-reward projects in cutting-edge fields such as genomics, immunology, AI, pathology, and drug development. This collaborative model accelerates the translation of laboratory discoveries into new diagnostic tools and treatment options that can significantly benefit patients and their families."

A complete list of 2025 Challenge Award recipients and projects is available on the Prostate Cancer Foundation’s website.

About the Prostate Cancer Foundation

The Prostate Cancer Foundation (PCF) is the world’s leading philanthropic organization dedicated to funding life-saving prostate cancer research. Founded in 1993 by Mike Milken, PCF has raised more than $1 billion to fund cutting-edge research through more than 2,615 research projects at 312 leading cancer centers, with a global footprint spanning 29 countries. Since PCF’s inception, and through its efforts, patients around the world are living longer, suffering fewer complications, and enjoying better quality of life. PCF is committed to the mission of ending death and suffering from this disease. Learn more at pcf.org.

Fonte: Business Wire