LOS ANGELES, March 6 (Xinhua) -- The Prostate Cancer Foundation (PCF) announced on Tuesday it awarded a total of 6.1 million dollars in grants to 63 research investigators to promote research.

    The recipients of the foundation's 2006 Competitive Awards Program come from four countries, with 30 first-time awardees among the group.

    The Competitive Awards Program "is an innovative venture-style research funding program that provides financial support to high-impact research projects with the greatest potential to improve survival and reduce side-effects and death for men with advanced prostate cancer," the PCF said in a statement.

    The awards are granted to projects in a variety of areas, including biomarkers, genetics and genomics, nutrition, cancer immunotherapy, new drug discovery and survivorship.

    "This year, we received more than 420 applications from 22 countries and were able to provide a record 63 projects a decisive boost in funding," said Dr. Stuart Holden, medical director of the PCF.

    "With its model of drawing new investigators around the globe to the field and enabling investigators to attract additional significant investment, the Competitive Awards Program has played a unique role in the area of prostate cancer research," the PCF statement said.

    To date, more than 81 million dollars have been awarded through the program, allowing individual investigators to focus their efforts on discovering new ideas and new pathways for prostate cancer treatment strategies.

    Prostate cancer is the most common non-skin cancer in the United States, striking one in six men. In 2007 alone, more than 218,000 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer and more than 27, 000 men will die of the disease, according to the PCF.

    Baby-boomer men are turning 60, bringing increasing numbers of men into the highest-risk zone for the disease. As a result, the number of new cases over the next decade is expected to increase to more than 300,000 annually, foundation officials said.