ItalianoThe Immunotherapy Working Group deals with the identification of highly predictive biomarkers of response to new immunotherapeutic approaches in order to identify at an early stage those patients who are likely to benefit from treatment. In this way it is possible to avoid delivering therapies that can cause side effects while offering no clinical benefit. The work of the WG, coordinated by Concetta Quintarelli – who is Head of the Laboratory of Cell and Gene Therapy for Tumours at the Bambino Gesù Paediatric Hospital in Rome – is focused on converting non responsive patients into responsive ones through the development of new combined therapies.
Immunotherapy is an innovative therapeutic approach that uses the patient’s immune system to recognise and eliminate the cancer cells, as if it were an infection. Cancer cells are often hidden from the immune system so, in order to make them recognizable, reagents are infused into the patient to activate the immune system: antibodies and immunoglobulin that selectively recognize the cancer cell. They form a bridge between the cancer cell and the immune system and activate the latter so that it recognizes and eliminates the former.
There is an even more innovative cancer treatment that genetically modifies a Patient’s own T cells in the laboratory. Specific receptors, called chimeric antigen receptors are added to the T cells to better recognize antigens expressed by the cancer cell. These receptors are usually added to the T cell via viral vectors. Once the receptors are exposed on the cell membrane, T cells circulate like soldiers, also managing to locate metastases of the same cancer.
The focus for the future will be on creating specific, targeted therapies for each single patient, which can only be achieved through the work of a network like ACC that brings together clinical specialities and researchers from different fields. The characterization of each individual patient will enable us to determine the correct therapy, thereby increasing benefits and at the same time reducing toxicities.
- Coordinatore Clinico: Emilio Bria - GEMELLI ROMA
- Coordinatore Pre Clinico: Vincenzo Russo - OSR MILANO
- Coordinatore Clinico CAR-T: Franco Locatelli - OPBG ROMA
- Coordinatore Pre Clinico CAR-T: Chiara Bonini - OSR MILANO
Pre Clinici
Concetta Quintarelli – OPBG ROMA | Giacomo Lettini – CROB RIONERO IN VULTURE | Paola Nisticò – IRE ROMA | Stefania D’Atri – IDI ROMA | Stefania Zanussi – CRO AVIANO | Stefania Tommasi – ONCOLOGICO BARI | Dario Sangiolo – IRCC CANDIOLO | Paola Allavena – HUMANITAS | Andrea Anichini – INT MILANO | Serena Pellegatta – BESTA MILANO | Paolo Graziano – CSS S.G. ROTONDO | Tobias Haas – IRCCS GEMELLI ROMA | Vincenzo Giambra – CSS S.G. ROTONDO | Massimiliano Mazza – IRST MELDOLA | Mariaelena Capone – INT PASCALE | Marina Podestà – IRCCS GASLINI | Mirco Ponzoni – IRCCS GASLINI | Valentina Sancisi – AUSL-IRCCS | Barbara Bottazzi – HUMANITAS | Luigi Nezi – IEO MILANO | Marcella Tazzari – IRST MELDOLA | Antonio Rosato – IOV PADOVA | Vincenzo Russo – OSR MILANO | Giancarlo Pruneri – INT MILANO | Gabriella Pietra – IST GENOVA
Clinici
Vanesa Gregorc – HSR MILANO | Massimo Guidoboni – IRST MELDOLA | Paolo Ascierto – PASCALE NAPOLI | Lucia Fratino – CRO AVIANO | Domenico Galetta – ONCOLOGICO BARI | Fabrizio Carnevale Schianca – IRCC CANDIOLO | Maria Vittoria Dieci – IOV PADOVA | Giuseppe Curigliano – IEO MILANO | Paolo Zucali – HUMANITAS | Massimo Di Nicola – INT MILANO | Giampaolo Tortora – IRCCS GEMELLI ROMA | Virginia Ferraresi – IRCCS IRE | Stefano Giardino – IRCCS GASLINI | Cristiana Di Rocco – IDI ROMA | Concetta Di Micco – CSS S.G. ROTONDO | Emanuela Fantinel – AUSL-IRCCS | Armando Santoro – HUMANITAS | Giovanni Bozza – IRCCS-CROB | Francesco Spagnolo – IST GENOVA | Giovanni Martinelli – IRST MELDOLA | Franco Locatelli – OPBG-ROMA