This project aims to find better treatments for advanced prostate cancer. This type of cancer is very hard to treat once it spreads. Many treatments, including immunotherapy (which helps the body fight cancer), have not worked well for these patients. One reason is that prostate cancer can “hide” from the immune system.Our research focuses on combining two types of treatment: radiation and immunotherapy. Radiation can damage cancer cells, but it can also help “wake up” the immune system. When cancer cells are hit by radiation, they send out signals that make them easier for the immune system to see. In this project, we use a newer type of radiation that travels through the bloodstream and can reach cancer cells throughout the body. Unlike standard radiation that targets only one spot, this approach can find and treat cancer wherever it has spread and may help activate immune cells across the whole body. After this, we give a newer form of immunotherapy that helps immune cells find and attack the cancer more directly. You can think of radiation as turning on a signal, and immunotherapy as helping the immune system follow that signal to the tumor. We will study blood and tumor samples over time to learn how the immune system responds to this combination. Our goal is to find the best timing and way to give these treatments, so they work better together. This research could lead to more effective and longer-lasting treatments for patients with advanced prostate cancer and may help improve care for other cancers as well.
