Dr. Alex Wyatt Awarded CIHR Project Grant to Advance ctDNA Biomarkers in Metastatic Prostate Cancer

The Vancouver Prostate Centre (VPC) is pleased to announce that Dr. Alex Wyatt has been awarded a CIHR Project Grant totaling $1,005,976 to support research on circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) as an early biomarker of treatment response in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC).

This four-year project will begin on April 1, 2026, and aims to improve real-time monitoring of therapy effectiveness for patients with advanced prostate cancer.

 

Patients with metastatic prostate cancer often receive multiple treatment options, but responses can vary significantly. Current approaches for monitoring treatment success rely on PSA testing and imaging, which may be inaccurate in the early months of therapy and are often limited in patients with bone metastases.

Dr. Wyatt’s team will build on pioneering work in circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA)—cancer-derived genetic material shed into the bloodstream—to determine whether early changes in ctDNA levels can provide a more precise and timely indicator of treatment benefit.

 

The study will analyze pre- and on-treatment blood samples from more than 1,800 patients with mCRPC who have received chemotherapy, hormonal therapy, radioligand therapy, targeted therapy, and other treatment approaches.