PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
We propose to support the established Prostate cancer Active Surveillance Study (PASS) cohort, which is a
large multi-institutional cohort of men with clinically localized prostate cancer who have elected active
surveillance to manage their cancer. With broad eligibility criteria designed to represent the population of men
who utilize active surveillance, the cohort has over 2,100 participants with extensive clinical and
epidemiological data (demographic, lifestyle, quality of life, long-term outcomes) and longitudinal biospecimens
(germline DNA, serum, plasma, urine, and prostate tissue) collected according to a standardized protocol. The
cohort was established in 2008 in response to the growing evidence of prostate cancer overtreatment and the
need for a prospective study to discover and validate biomarkers of prostate cancer progression, and to
identify determinants of cancer progression and patient outcomes. Over the past decade, the cohort has
amassed a wealth of data and biospecimens so that it serves as the foundation for addressing critical
questions relevant to the optimal personalized management of early stage prostate cancer.
The successful funding of this application will support a robust infrastructure for PASS that in turn will ensure
the availability of PASS data and specimens to facilitate research addressing determinants of cancer
progression, recurrence, and outcomes. A substantial proportion of these research endeavors are
encompassed in currently funded federal grants, and the successful completion of the current and future
projects relies on the continued success of the PASS enterprise. The impact of this cohort lies in its potential to
investigate research questions of paramount importance: to identify better prognostic markers of prostate
cancer aggressiveness; to understand the clinical management, progression and outcomes of early stage
prostate cancer; to tailor the approach of active surveillance based on individual characteristics and
preferences; to characterize associations between clinicopathologic factors, patient lifestyle, and disease
biology; to develop new tools to communicate medical information to patients; and to understand decision-
making among patients on active surveillance, in particular with regards to quality of life, anxiety, and regret .
The successful completion of these transformative research endeavors will address unmet needs in the most
commonly diagnosed male cancer and substantially reduce the current public health burden of early stage
prostate cancer.
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