Plklfc

• | PLKLFC - iGEM 2024 | • | Prostate Cancer |

Our Mission

- Develop a medication for detecting and killing prostate cancer cells

Advantage of Our Project

PCas

Prostate Cancer

Reduced Pain
Convenient
Affordable
Speedy

Symptoms of Prostate cancer

- Frequent urination
- Weak urine flow
- Difficulty in starting urination
- Having blood in urine

Current Situation of prostate cancer in Hong Kong

- 3rd most common cancer in men
- 4th most common cancer for all people

Current Situation of prostate cancer around the world

- Second most common cancer in men
- 1.5 Million new cases in 2022(Bray et al., 2024)

Both sexes

(Incidence)

20.0 million
new cases

(Mortality)

9.7 million
deaths

- 400 Thousand people suffer from death due to prostate cancer
- Five-year survival rate for prostate cancer in Stage IV is just 45%
- Most people cannot discover prostate cancer at an early stage as the tumors developed with no obvious symptoms in the early stage

Males

(Incidence)

10.3 million
new cases

(Mortality)

5.4 million
deaths

Methods to detect and treat prostate cancer

- Current methods to detect and treat prostate cancer have a high price
- Normally, a male with metastatic prostate cancer need to pay more than USD$30,000 per year for treating it

(Burkhardt et al., 2002)
*more therapy options are available for metastatic prostate cancer including ones for patients that are hormone-sensitive or at the castration-resistant stage*

Brief Introduction of our project

- Making improvements to make the detection of prostate cancer become more accurate and simple
- Adding a new function: Killing prostate cancer cells

- PSMA will be the biomarker of our project
- A plasmid is designed for detecting and killing prostate cancer cells

- Genes in the plasmid will be expressed under high PSMA levels and produce a bioluminescent protein called Gaussia Luciferase, Gluc
- The amount of Gluc expressed will be measured, detecting prostate cancer
- As Gluc will return to the bloodstream then be excreted to urine, future patients’ urine will be collected to measure the amount of Gluc expressed

- Expression of plasmid will also produce another protein called Bax, an apoptosis regulator
- Bax will trigger prostate cancer cells to undergo apoptosis, and prostate cancer is cured

Source

[1] Cancer Online Resource Hub - Cancers in Hong Kong - Common cancers in Hong Kong - Prostate cancer. (n.d.). https://www.cancer.gov.hk/en/hong_kong_cancer/common_cancers_in_hong_kong/prostate_cancer.html

[2] WCRF International. (2024, June 26). Prostate cancer statistics | World Cancer Research Fund International. https://www.wcrf.org/cancer-trends/prostate-cancer-statistics/

[3] Bray, F., Laversanne, M., Sung, H., Ferlay, J., Siegel, R. L., Soerjomataram, I., & Jemal, A. (2024). Global cancer statistics 2022: GLOBOCAN estimates of incidence and mortality worldwide for 36 cancers in 185 countries. CA a Cancer Journal for Clinicians, 74(3), 229–263. https://doi.org/10.3322/caac.21834

[4] ZeaMed. (n.d.). How much does it cost for PSA test? Updated guide for 2023. Retrieved August 16, 2024, from https://blog.zeamed.com/how-much-does-a-psa-test-cost/

[5] How much does a prostate biopsy cost? (n.d.). Retrieved August 16, 2024, from https://help.amino.com/hc/en-us/articles/360009761954-How-much-does-a-prostate-biopsy-cost

[6] Turquoise Health. (n.d.). Prostate Cancer Screening; digital rectal examination. Retrieved August 16, 2024, from https://turquoise.health/services/prostate-cancer-screening-digital-rectal-examination/

[7] Burkhardt, J. H., Litwin, M. S., Rose, C. M., Correa, R. J., Sunshine, J. H., Hogan, C., & Hayman, J. A. (2002). Comparing the costs of radiation therapy and radical prostatectomy for the initial treatment of Early-Stage prostate cancer. Journal of Clinical Oncology, 20(12), 2869–2875. https://doi.org/10.1200/jco.2002.11.136