Prostate Cancer SPORE

Events and Activities

The activities of the Prostate Cancer SPORE extend beyond the Projects and Cores to include other investigators and advocates in a variety of meetings and conferences designed to share information, obtain input, and promote collaborative efforts. The following are a sampling of recent SPORE-sponsored activities.

The bi-weekly Prostate Research Conferences were developed to provide investigators with current information about prostate cancer research. In addition to presentations by project and core leaders, the conferences included speakers from other UCSF departments and other institutions. Among the presentations from other institutions were "Stromal Influence in Prostate Cancer" by Gustavo Ayala of Baylor Medical College, and "Molecular Analysis of the KLF6 Tumor Suppressor Gene" by John Martignetti from Mt. Sinai School of Medicine.

Monthly work-in-progress conferences provide a collegial atmosphere for junior faculty and trainees in prostate research to interact with one another as well as to share information about their research activities and refine their presentation skills.

The annual Prostate Cancer Research Retreat is open to other academics, cancer advocates, industry professionals, and selected guests. The event provides an opportunity to focus on current research, interact with local colleagues, and listen to presentations from nationally invited speakers. The event is also an opportunity for collaboration with the other UCSF SPORE programs. In 2002 a two-day conference was planned with the breast cancer program, which included a very successful poster session. The 2004 research retreat will be a two-day event held in conjunction with the UCSF breast cancer and brain cancer SPOREs. The joint program will focus on topics of mutual interest; a final session will concentrate on prostate cancer.

On December 3 and 4, 2002, the UCSF Prostate Cancer SPORE hosted the annual InterProstate SPORE meeting in San Francisco. The meeting included sessions by nationally known investigators in the areas of immunotherapy, diet and nutrition, androgen receptor signaling, genetics/genomics, biomarkers, and bone metastases. The second day of the meeting was given over to discussions of InterSPORE collaborations in clinical trials, biomarkers/epidemiology, and laboratory research.