Our group actively participated to the EORTC–PAMM winter meeting 2020. The meeting was organised by the PAMM Scientific Committee and by the local organizers Prof. Stig Linder and Dr. Padraig D’Arcy in the wonderful auditorium of Karolinska Institute. continue reading →
Pharmacogenomics of Lung Cancer, Parma, 27 November 2019
Presentation by Elisa Giovannetti at the congress “La Ricerca Traslazionale nelle neoplasie polmonari: stato dell’arte ed esperienze di ricerca”, co-organized by Prof. Tiseo and Prof. Petronini (Parma University).
And a special thank to Dr. Garajova and the organisers of the course “Pancreatic cancer: A multidisciplinary approach” at Parma AOUP, September 22th, 2019, with Dr. Francesco Leonardi, Dr. Raffaele Della Valle and Dr. Michele Milella (in the picture).
PDF file: Dr Giovannetti: Pharmacogenomics of Lung Cancer
In this video we discuss our retrospective study focused on the frequency of different c-Met aberrations (overexpression, amplification and mutations) in 153 primary, therapy-naïve resection samples and their paired metastases, from Biobank@UZA. Furthermore, we determined the correlation of c-Met expression with clinicopathological factors, Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR)-status and TP53 mutations. Our results showed that c-Met expression levels in primary tumors were comparable to their respective metastases. Five different mutations were detected by deep sequencing: three (E168D, S203T, N375S) previously described and two never reported (I333T, G783E). I333T, a new mutation in the Sema(phorin) domain of c-Met, might influence the binding of antibodies targeting the HGF-binding domain, potentially causing innate resistance. E168D and S203T mutations showed a trend towards a correlation with high c-Met expression (p = 0.058). We found a significant correlation between c-MET expression, EGFR expression (p = 0.010) and EGFR mutations (p = 0.013), as well as a trend (p = 0.057) with regards to TP53 mutant activity. In conclusion this study demonstrated a strong correlation between EGFR mutations, TP53 and c-Met expression in therapy-naïve primary resection samples. Moreover, we found two new c-Met mutations that warrant further studies.
This article has been published on:
Molecules. 2019 Dec 4;24(24). pii: E4443. doi: 10.3390/molecules24244443.
Suprasplicesome meeting, Amsterdam, 23 September 2019
Presentation by Elisa Giovannetti: “Targeting SF3B1 as a novel therapeutic strategy against diffuse malignant peritoneal mesothelioma”
Presentation PDF: Targeting SF3B1 as a novel therapeutic strategy against diffuse malignant peritoneal mesothelioma
The results of this study have been published in EBiomedicine:
www.ebiomedicine.com/article/S2352-3964(18)30602-9
Article PDF: Splicing modulation as novel therapeutic strategy against diffuse malignant peritoneal mesothelioma
with a dedicated editorial: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30612942
AISP 2019, Verona 21 September 2019
Presentation by Mjriam Capula, who was awarded for the Best Oral Presentation in preclinical/translational research
Some results of this study have been published in Therapeutic Advances in Medical Oncology:
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/10.1177_1758835919841233.pdf
PDF file: Mjriam Capula – Presentazione AISP 2019
Roma/Milano
The results of our study have been published in the “European Journal of Cancer” (2019 Aug 19;119:107-111), official journal Of the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC). continue reading →
Pisa,
The review written by the Btissame El Hassouni (PhD student, Dept. Medical Oncology, VUmc) on the role glycolytic metabolism pathway (and new anticancer agents targeting this pathway has been published in Seminars of Cancers Biology continue reading →
“Testimonianza” at the Course organized by the association “Women for Oncology” of the Italian and European Association of Medical Oncology (Host: Dr. L. Locati, Dr. M. Garassino), Montecitorio, Roma, Italy 18 June 2019
Link to the Italian association “Women for Oncology”: www.facebook.com/women4onco
PDF file: Testimonianza Giovannetti W40 2019
Tavola Rotonda Women for Oncology 2019
Shiraz,
Our collaborative paper with Prof. Firuzi (University of Shiraz, Iran) and the PhD student Pei Pei Che (Department of Radiobiology, VUmc) on the role of c-MET Inhibitors in Overcoming Drug Resistance in Spheroids of Human PDAC and Stellate Cells has been published at continue reading →
In this video we discuss how pancreatic stellate cells (PSCs) represent a key component of tumor microenvironment in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) and contribute to drug resistance. Moreober we explain that c-MET receptor tyrosine kinase activation plays an important role in tumorigenesis in different cancers including PDAC. Effects of PSC conditioned medium (PCM) on c-MET phosphorylation (by immunocytochemistry enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA)) and drug response (by sulforhodamine B assay) were investigated in five primary PDAC cells. In novel 3D-spheroid co-cultures of cyan fluorescence protein (CFP)-firefly luciferase (Fluc)-expressing primary human PDAC cells and green fluorescence protein (GFP)-expressing immortalized PSCs, PDAC cell growth and chemosensitivity were examined by luciferase assay, while spheroids’ architecture was evaluated by confocal microscopy. PCM of cells pre-incubated with PDAC conditioned medium, containing increased hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) levels, made PDAC cells significantly more resistant to gemcitabine, but not to c-MET inhibitors. Hetero-spheroids containing both PSCs and PDAC cells were more resistant to gemcitabine compared to homo-spheroids. However, c-MET inhibitors (tivantinib, PHA-665752 and crizotinib) were equally effective in both spheroid models. In conclusion, we developed spheroid models to evaluate PSC-PDAC reciprocal interaction, unraveling c-MET inhibition as an important therapeutic option against drug resistant PDAC.
This video has been published as supplemental file to the article:
Cancers (Basel). 2019 May 8;11(5). pii: E638. doi: 10.3390/cancers11050638
Role of c-MET Inhibitors in Overcoming Drug Resistance in Spheroid Models of Primary Human Pancreatic Cancer and Stellate Cells
Firuzi O, Che PP, El Hassouni B, Buijs M, Coppola S, Löhr M, Funel N, Heuchel R, Carnevale I, Schmidt T, Mantini G, Avan A, Saso L, Peters GJ, Giovannetti E.
Link: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31072019
Of note, the author of this paper, Professor Omidreza Firuzi (from the Medicinal and Natural Products Chemistry Research Center, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences , Shiraz, Iran), won the NWO Visitor’s Travel grant to work for one year in our lab.
Amburgo,
Intervista del Dr. Filippo Cortesi (Universitaetsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf, Amburgo) che ha vinto una pretigiosa borsa iCARE AIRC e ricorda la nostra collabotrazione durante la sua internship come studente. continue reading →
Carrara,
Dr. Giovannetti participated to the congress organized by Dr. Mambrini on the role of a multidisciplinary approach for the treatment of pancreatic cancer. continue reading →
EORTC-PAMM Winter Meeting, Verona, Italy, 8th February 2019
Selected Oral presentation: “Decrease in phospho-PRAS40 plays a role in the synergy between erlotinib and crizotinib in an EGFR and cMET wild-type squamous non-small cell lung cancer cell line”
By Dr. Alessandro Leonetti
The results of this study have been published in Biochemical Pharmacology:
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31078602
PDF file: Decrease in p-PRAS40 plays a role in the synergy between erlotinib and crizotinib
Verona,
For the first time the EORTC-PAMM group organized an educational course on “(pre)clinical pharmacology of anticancer drugs”
continue reading →
Winter Meeting of the EORTC-PAMM 2019, Verona, Italy, 8th February 2019
Invited lecture at the Educational Course organized by the EORTC-PAMM group “Neighborhood matters: new tools and practical approaches for co-culturing cancer cells”
The discussion among students attending the course were published in the following articles in Anticancer Research:
PDF file: Neighborhood matters
Roma,
“Onorata di aver partecipato all’incontro con il presidente Mattarella al Quirinale, durante la Giornata della Ricerca sul Cancro. “I giovani che fanno il mestiere del ricercatore sono l’investimento più proficuo e produttivo per il futuro dell’Italia, ed il compito della politica, che ci ha accolto in questa sede, è cercare di agevolarci e di costruire possibilità perché possiamo lavorare al meglio. continue reading →
Ottaviani S, Stebbing J, Frampton AE, Krell J, de Giorgio A, Trabulo SM, Nguyen VTM, Magnani L, Giovannetti E, Funel N, Gress TM, Jiao LR, Lombardo Y, Heeschen C, Castellano L. TGF-ß induces miR-100 and miR-125b but blocks let-7a through LIN28B controlling EMT and stemness. Nat Comm 2018;9(1):1845
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29748571
Presse releases have been published in UK and the The Netherlands, as follows:
The pharmacology group has identified key microRNAs controlling pancreatic cancer progression – a study published in Nature Communications continue reading →
Washington,
A press release on the MARF website described our article published on Annals of Oncology:
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28945836
“These findings identify for the first time PCFT (a protein) as a novel mesothelioma prognostic biomarker, prompting prospective trials for its validation.” continue reading →
Symposium “Pharmacology forever”
Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 20th April 2018
Invited lecture “Role of pharmacology in anticancer treatments” by Elisa Giovannetti
Pesaro,
Dr. Giovannetti participated with a lecture on “Optimizing immunotherapy: Rationale for a combination therapy approach” to the 3th INTERNATIONAL COURSE OF ENDOVASCULAR ONCOLOGY: A GLANCE BEYOND YOUR PRACTICE continue reading →
41st EORTC –PAMM winter meeting: February 13th-15th, 2020 in Stockholm
febbraio 15, 2020
Breastfeeding during R-CHOP chemotherapy: please abstain!
settembre 11, 2019
