Prostate cancer remains the most common cancer among men. Scientists at Wayne State University and the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute have developed a new imaging probe that they say should help doctors better track, and potentially treat, prostate cancer – before it becomes resistant to treatment.

The new ARi-FL probe, short for “Androgen Receptor Inhibitor Fluorescent Ligand,” helps doctors track prostate cancer growth by making the cancer cells visible as they spread.

Sheryl Roberts, Ph.D., assistant professor of oncology at Wayne State University and the project’s lead researcher, said the disease affects a large number of men in Michigan.

“That’s really why I’m interested in studying,” Roberts noted. “Because locally, we have one of the most aggressive forms of prostate cancer, especially in African American populations.”

There are about 7,700 new cases of prostate cancer diagnosed in Michigan each year. Backed by a National Institutes of Health grant, the Wayne State team is now developing a full-body scan to catch it before it spreads.

Roberts acknowledged early detection is only part of the challenge. Understanding when treatment stops working could save time, money and lives.

“Typically men, or people with prostate cancer, you get hormone therapy,” Roberts observed. “But eventually these hormone therapies, they don’t work anymore, long term, because men gain resistance to the therapies that are in the hospital.”

Experts said prostate cancer has a nearly 100% survival rate when caught early but the percentage drops sharply once it spreads. Roberts hopes her team’s work will help doctors stay one step ahead of prostate cancer, giving more men a chance to beat it.