Prostate Cancer Research Program (PCRP)

PCRP — Prostate Cancer Research Program

Funds research teams and institutions for PCRP Prostate Cancer Research in biotechnology and medical technology.

The Prostate Cancer Research Program (PCRP) is a congressionally mandated programme administered by the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP) office within the U.S. Army Medical Research and Development Command (USAMRDC). Established in 1997 and accumulating more than $2.445 billion through FY2025, PCRP received a $75 million appropriation for FY2026. The programme's mission is to conquer prostate cancer by eliminating death and suffering and enhancing well-being for service members, veterans, and all patients. Prostate cancer represents 11.7 percent of cancer diagnoses among active-duty military personnel (2005–2014), giving the programme particular salience for the DoD community.

PCRP FY26 strategic goals organise funded research around four priorities: improving quality of life for patients; developing new treatments for lethal prostate cancer; reducing disparities among high-risk groups, particularly African American men; and advancing understanding of prostate cancer progression biology. Multiple award mechanisms are available, and mechanism-specific ceilings and deadlines are published in programme announcement PDFs on the eBRAP portal. Universities, non-profit research organisations, and for-profit companies are all eligible to apply; foreign entities may participate. Individual investigators may not apply directly. SAM.gov registration with a valid UEI is required and should be initiated weeks before the application deadline. All PCRP submissions follow the standard CDMRP two-step process: pre-application through eBRAP, followed by a full proposal via Grants.gov if the pre-application is encouraged.

The PCRP supports the Prostate Cancer Clinical Trials Consortium, which provides infrastructure assistance for clinical trial applicants, and runs a mentorship programme for new investigators entering the prostate cancer research field. Applications targeting high-risk populations or addressing the biology of metastatic and lethal disease have aligned well with recent programmatic priorities. Applicants targeting treatment-focused mechanisms should plan for the longer September full-application deadline typical of CDMRP clinical trial tracks, while discovery-science mechanisms typically operate on a compressed summer schedule.