Dr. Tanya Stoyanova receives grant to develop new radiopharmaceuticals for cancer

Dr. Tanya Stoyanova, associate professor of Molecular and Medical Pharmacology and Urology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, was awarded a $320,000 grant from Worldwide Cancer Research to develop an innovative molecular tool designed to detect and target prostate, breast, and potentially other carcinomas.

Carcinomas, which are cancers originating from epithelial cells, account for 80% to 90% of all cancer cases. Prostate cancer and breast cancer are the most commonly diagnosed non-skin cancers and the second leading cause of cancer-related death in men and women, respectively.

The new radiopharmaceuticals will be based on a small fragment of protein called a minibody that will recognize and bind Trop2 protein on the surface of cancer cells. High levels of Trop2 are often associated with more aggressive tumors because the protein can promote cancer cell growth and spread, making it an ideal target for both detecting and treating cancer.

The team will engineer the minibodies and radiolabel them to specifically attach to prostate and breast cancer cells. One type of the engineered radiolabeled minibodies will be further tested as an imaging tool to improve cancer detection, while another type will be developed to deliver targeted radiotherapy directly to the cancer cells, aiming to eradicate them more precisely.

“Our goal is to create a versatile tool that not only improves the accuracy of cancer detection but also delivers highly targeted treatments,” said Stoyanova, who is also a member of the UCLA Health Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center and the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at UCLA. “By focusing on Trop2, we aim to develop innovative imaging agents and therapies that could significantly improve outcomes for patients battling advanced prostate, breast, and other carcinomas.”

See Full Article at: https://www.uclahealth.org/news/release/dr-tanya-stoyanova-receives-grant-develop-new

Stoyanova lab is excited to share our new publication in STAR Protocols on establishing murine models of spontaneous metastasis using prostate cancer cell lines and in vivo imaging.

Congratulations!

Link to Publication:https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666166724004040?via%3Dihub

Dr. Tanya Stoyanova receives $1.8 million to reveal new treatment strategies for advanced prostate cancer

Dr. Tanya Stoyanova, associate professor of molecular and medical pharmacology and urology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, was awarded a $1.8 million grant from the National Cancer Institute to identify new drivers and test new therapeutic strategies for advanced treatment-resistant prostate cancer.

Advanced prostate cancer, whether present at the time of diagnosis or arising after treatment for early-stage disease, usually responds well to hormone therapy. However, the hormone therapy eventually stops working and the cancer often returns in a more aggressive form known as hormone-refractory prostate cancer — the leading cause of death related to prostate cancer.

The five-year grant will support Stoyanova and her research team in testing the role of a specific protein called ATPase family AAA domain-containing 2 (ATAD2) in prostate cancer and further test its utility as a therapeutic target. The team will test inhibitors of ATAD2 alone and in combination with standard of care drugs as a new strategy to treat advanced hormone-refractory prostate cancer.

“This study will reveal new molecular mechanisms underlying the development of advanced prostate cancer and lead to the discovery of new potential therapies for the disease,” said Stoyanova, who is also a member of the UCLA Health Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center and the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at UCLA. “Our hope is that these therapeutic agents will lead to better outcomes for patients with advanced prostate cancer in the near future.”

Team of co-investigators includes Dr. Arnold Chin, associate professor of urology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and Dr. Jiaoti Huang, professor and chair of pathology at Duke University.

See Full Article at: https://www.uclahealth.org/news/release/Dr-Tanya-Stoyanova-receives-1-8-million-to-reveal-new-treatment-strategies-for-advanced-prostate-cancer

Welcome to Dr. Stoyanova’s lab, Shruti!

Welcome to Dr. Stoyanova’s lab, Diana!

Welcome to Dr. Stoyanova’s lab, Francisco!

Andrea Miyahira hosts Tanya Stoyanova to discuss her study, published in Cell Reports Medicine, on UCHL1 as a potential biomarker and therapeutic target for neuroendocrine carcinomas, including neuroendocrine prostate cancer. Watch below or at the link.
Link to Video with Transcript: https://www.urotoday.com/video-lectures/prostate-cancer/video/4083-uchl1-a-potential-biomarker-and-therapeutic-target-for-neuroendocrine-prostate-cancer-tanya-stoyanova.html

Dr. Tanya Stoyanova receives Department of Defense Exploration-Hypothesis Development Award

Dr. Tanya Stoyanova, associate professor of molecular and medical pharmacology and urology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, was awarded an Exploration-Hypothesis Development Award from the Department of Defense to develop new approaches to detect and treat neuroendocrine prostate cancer, a highly aggressive subtype of prostate cancer known for its poor prognosis and limited therapeutic options.

The award will help support Stoyanova, a member of the UCLA Health Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, and her team in testing blood levels of ubiquitin carboxy-terminal hydrolase L1 — a protein recently discovered by Stoyanova to be a novel promising molecular indicator and target for neuroendocrine prostate cancer — from patients suffering from this cancer. The team will then test the use of the protein as a blood biomarker to diagnose and track how patients respond to therapies, while also testing different new drugs that target the protein to see if they could be effective new treatment options.

“Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-associated mortality among men in the U.S. and affects active-duty military, veterans and their families,” said Stoyanova, also a member of the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at UCLA. “Our hope is that successful completion of this study will unveil new minimally invasive blood-based tests to diagnose and monitor responses to therapies for this highly aggressive subtype of prostate cancer, and reveal new treatment strategies for patients suffering from the disease.”

See Full Article at: https://www.uclahealth.org/news/release/dr-tanya-stoyanova-receives-department-defense-exploration

Welcome to Stoyanova lab, Donny!

Dr. Shiqin Liu presented her project “Shed Trop2 drives Prostate Cancer Progression and Trop2 is a novel Tissue Prognostic Biomarker and a candidate urinary marker for prostate cancer” at the 2024 AACR.