Avraham Raz Ph.D., the Paul Zuckerman professor of Oncology, Pathology and Radiation Oncology for the Wayne State University School of Medicine, will be the keynote speaker for the 26th annual Research Meeting of the Japanese Orthopedic Association.

Dr. Raz will present "On the role of galectin-3 in cancer metastasis: From the bench to the clinic and back" during the meeting, taking place at Gunma University in Japan, Oct. 19-22.

"I am the only foreigner who is not a member of the society who was invited to the annual meeting of the Japanese Orthopedic society," Dr. Raz said. "It is a great honor."

Researchers at the Wayne State University School of Medicine have identified a new marker for prostate cancer progression that may one day lead to new treatments.

Dr. Raz and his team of renowned research collaborators identified a cleaved form of galectin-3 as a marker for prostate cancer progression. According to their study published in 2009 in The American Journal of Pathology, previous research indicated that decreased levels of galectin-3 are linked with neoplastic progression in prostate cancer. However, increased levels of galectin-3 are believed to be associated with tumorigenicity in other tumor types.

The study found that cleaved galectin-3, an inheritable gene, is present in late-stage prostate cancer, and that by reducing levels of galectin-3 development of metastatic prostate cancer is inhibited. The finding suggests that galectin-3 may serve as both a diagnostic marker and therapeutic target for future prostate cancer treatments.

Dr. Raz's research focuses on furthering the understanding of cancer progression and metastasis using in vitro and in vivo methodologies.