Genomic Mutations, Treatment--Resistance & Prostate Cancer - The Deng Lab at Yale School of Medicine

Why It Matters

Understanding and targeting resistance mechanisms could extend the efficacy of existing therapies, reducing mortality and shaping personalized treatment pathways for prostate cancer patients.

Key Takeaways

• Prostate cancer often develops resistance to hormone therapies
• Deng Lab uses AI to identify resistance-driving genomic mutations
• Patient-derived tissue cultures validate computational predictions in prostate cancer
• Collaboration aims to create drugs targeting resistance proteins
• Goal: predict and prevent resistance with combined therapeutic strategies

Summary

Therapy resistance remains a major hurdle in prostate cancer, especially after initial success with hormone‑based treatments. The Deng Lab at Yale School of Medicine is dedicated to uncovering the molecular mechanisms that enable cancer cells to evade therapy.

The team combines patient‑derived genomic data with artificial‑intelligence algorithms to pinpoint mutations that drive resistance. These computational hits are then tested in patient‑derived tissue cultures, providing a translational bridge from data to biology.

Lab leader Dr. Deng cites a personal motivation—watching a friend battle leukemia—as a driving force, emphasizing the lab’s patient‑centered mission to develop drugs that degrade resistance‑promoting proteins and to create predictive biomarkers.

If successful, these efforts could yield combination regimens that preempt resistance, offering clinicians tools to personalize treatment and improve long‑term survival for prostate cancer patients.

Original Description

For more information on Su Deng or #YaleSchoolOfMedicine, visit: https://medicine.yale.edu/profile/su-deng and https://starryds.github.io/Denglab.github.io.

The Deng Lab focuses on understanding and overcoming therapy resistance in advanced prostate cancer. By integrating functional genomics, metabolomics, and tumor modeling, the lab investigates how alterations at the transcriptional and translational levels drive lineage plasticity and metabolic rewiring that enable tumors to evade androgen receptor–targeted therapies. Through these studies, the Deng Lab seeks to identify key molecular vulnerabilities and translate mechanistic insights into novel therapeutic strategies for lethal prostate cancer.

0:00 The Deng Lab

0:30 What are they studying?

0:58 How are they studying it?

1:31 Where might this research lead?