Dr. Dorff’s research interests in prostate cancer are wide-ranging. In the area of clinical trials, she is heavily involved in the design and conduct of trials with immunotherapy and exploring treatment combinations. She has also worked on trials examining lifestyle (supplements, exercise) and treatment side effects (cognitive function). Recently she was awarded a Prostate Cancer Foundation/Pfizer grant to study talazoparib specifically in an ethnically diverse population, working together with Zijie (ZJ) Sun, M.D., Ph.D., and others.

Dr. Dorff leads City of Hope’s joint effort with the Prostate Cancer Foundation to develop novel immune-based strategies for prostate cancer. Specifically, she leads an effort to develop chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells – cells that are primed to target prostate cancer tissue. These strategies have been transformative in certain blood-based cancers. She is also engaging with TGen scientists to study ctDNA as a biomarker of minimal residual disease and the impact of the microbiome on treatment outcomes.