Translational Research: Bridging the Gap Between Bench and Bedside

Prostate cancer (PC) is a health crisis worldwide. A notable number of all men who develop prostate PC progress to castration-resistant metastatic disease. Androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) is the PC cornerstone therapy. Over the past few years, extraordinary advances in systemic therapies have culminated in an improved overall survival rate of PC patients. Substantial milestones remain to be reached to curb the devastating effects of metastatic PC. While the multifactorial causes of this highly heterogeneous cancer remain controversial, ethnicity has an influence on PC prognosis and survival outcomes. Men of African origin and associated African cultures have poorer PC outcomes. This highlights an extensive gap between PC genomics, particularly from underrepresented populations, and advancements made in clinical applications. This PC translational research gap is further deteriorated by the lack/minimum integration of nuclear medicine physicians in PC care. Radiogenomics and prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) theragnostics are promising nuclear medicine tools in effective and inclusive PC management and precision oncology. This book chapter will discuss the PC translation research gap and effective strategies to closing this gap. Specifically, advances in PC-targeted therapies, PC ethnic pharmacogenomics, the involvement of nuclear medicine as a frontier in PC care coordination, challenges, and solutions in bridging the PC translational research gap between bench and bedside will be discussed. An integrated PC management approach to bridging this gap is warranted to improve PC patient outcomes.