Press Releases

Today, Congressman Tim Kennedy (NY-26) announced $3,483,160 for Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center to research the reasons for disproportionate rates of prostate cancer in African American men and point the way to new strategies for improving detection and management of this often-deadly disease. This grant will be distributed over the next five years.

“I am proud to announce $3,483,160 in federal funding for Roswell Park to combat disparities in prostate cancer risks,” Congressman Kennedy said. “This research will help identify the reasons why African American men have higher rates and experience riskier forms of prostate cancer—laying the groundwork to save lives. As we observe the end of Prostate Cancer Awareness month, I encourage all men to continue getting regularly screened for this disease.”

“Our team at Roswell Park is employing a novel approach to measure epigenetic age in the DNA of prostate cancer patients,” said Anna Woloszynska, PhD, Associate Professor of Oncology in the Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center. “This is part of our effort to understand why African American men are more frequently diagnosed with prostate cancer at a younger age and experience more aggressive forms of the disease compared to other ethnic and racial groups. This crucial federal funding will allow us to continue our research, testing whether accelerated epigenetic aging measured by ribosomal DNA methylation could lead to better prognostics and treatment of prostate cancer in men of color.”

Additional Information:

Prostate cancer disproportionately affects African American men, who have a 1.4 times higher chance of diagnosis and double the risk of death compared to European American men. Additionally, African American men are more likely to be diagnosed with early-onset prostate cancer (before age 55).

However, it is not fully understood how race and ancestry impact epigenetic aging, and if early-onset prostate cancer is tied to accelerated aging due to genetic or environmental factors.

This study investigates whether accelerated ribosomal DNA methylation, a marker of biological aging, is linked to early-onset prostate cancer in African American men. Roswell Park aims to discover why African American men face a higher risk by comparing ribosomal DNA methylation ages between African American and European American prostate cancer patients and non-cancer controls.

Ultimately, Roswell Park’s goal is to uncover the reasons behind racial disparities in prostate cancer and establish the ribosomal DNA clock as a key biomarker for monitoring age-related diseases in African American men. In the future, this research could support the use of ribosomal DNA methylation to assess interventions like diet or exercise for prostate cancer prevention.

To inquire with Roswell on prostate cancer screening call 1-800-ROSWELL, or visit their website: www.roswellpark.org/screening-prevention.

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