Kenneth V. Honn, Ph.D., distinguished professor of radiation oncology and pathology and member of Karmanos Cancer Institute’s Developmental Therapeutics Program, has received a National Cancer Institute (NCI) R01 grant for his research project “The Role of Thromboxane in Prostate Cancer Progression.” Historically the oldest grant mechanism used by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the highly coveted R01 grant supports specified projects performed by investigators in an area that represents the investigator’s particular research interests.
This grant will support Dr. Honn’s research into the role of thromboxane and its function in prostate cancer initiation and progression. Thromboxane is a bioactive lipid derived from arachidonic acid. Arachidonic acid is the essential fatty acid derived from red meat. When the body metabolizes arachidonic acid, it forms thromboxane. While thromboxane helps the aggregation of blood platelets, Honn thinks it also stimulates prostate cancer cells into growing more mobile.
“We originally thought it (thromboxane) had something to do with cancer cell replication but it doesn’t appear to. Instead it seems to stimulate the cancer cell,” Honn said. This grant will fund research into thromboxane’s role in prostate cancer initiation and metastases and also afford Honn’s lab the chance to explore new kinds of intervention.
Dr. Honn has spent his entire career working for Wayne State University and the Karmanos Cancer Institute. He remains one of the most cited researchers at the University, and he is responsible for pioneering research into eicosanoids, a large group of 20-carbon fatty acids, including several that actively prevent the spread of cancer. Additionally, eicosanoids are linked to inflammation and chronic disease. Dr. Honn is one of the first researchers to unite multidisciplinary specialists at an international biennial conference on Eicosanoids & Other Bioactive Lipids in Cancer, Inflammation and Related Diseases. Dr. Honn founded the conference in 1989, and it has since tripled in participation and announced major medical breakthroughs.
Dr. Honn earned his bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees from Wayne State University and served as a founding member of the Department of Radiation Oncology. Please join the Karmanos Cancer Institute family in congratulating Dr. Honn.
