Jacob Orme, M.D., Ph.D. (I ’19, HEMO ’22), receives an award, Mayo Clinic Rochester

Jacob Orme, M.D., Ph.D. (I ’19, HEMO ’22), a resident in the Hematology-Oncology Fellowship Program at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, received the 2022 Eustace Wolfington-PCF Young Investigator Award from the Prostate Cancer Foundation for his project, “Overcoming NRG-1-mediated Resistance in Castration-resistant Prostate Cancer.” Dr. Orme was one of 34 PCF Young Investigator Award recipients who received a total of $7.2 million in funding in 2022. Dr. Orme and his research colleagues identified NRG-1 as a driver in the development of resistance to hormonal therapies in prostate cancer and as a promising biomarker and therapeutic target. They also found that mesenchymal cells, a type of non-cancer cell within tumors, are the main source of NRG-1 production. These findings served as the rationale for initiating a Phase 2 clinical trial testing enzalutamide in combination with pertuzumab and trastuzumab, which block the NRG-1 signaling partners HER2 and HER3, in patients with castration resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) with elevated NRG-1. Dr. Orme’s PCF Young Investigator Award project will determine the safety and efficacy of this combination treatment approach in patients with CRPC. It will also investigate whether PARP-inhibitors can prevent NRG-1 production using patient-derived prostate tumor models. PCF Young Investigator Awards are intended to identify a cohort of future research leaders who will keep the field of prostate cancer research vibrant with new ideas and offer career and project support for early career physicians and scientists who are committed to advancing the prostate cancer field. Dr. Orme is an assistant professor of medicine and an assistant professor of oncology in the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science.