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ESMO Translational Unit Visit
Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori Milano, Italy
13 – 16th May 2014
Topic: ‘Integrating multidisciplinary issues in clinical oncology: the paradigm of urologic tumours’
The Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori of Milan (INT) is the largest comprehensive cancer centre in Italy. Since its establishment, in 1928, this public institution has aimed to provide the highest standard of patient care while pursuing preclinical and clinical research and its swift translation into better prevention, diagnosis, therapy, rehabilitation, and quality of life. INT is an institute for scientific research, treatment and care, research at INT is funded by the National Ministry of Health and is supported by the regional authorities for its role in regional healthcare. Moreover, research is also substantially funded by numerous other bodies, both public -‐ such as the European Union and the Ministry of University and Research (MIUR) -‐ and private, in particular the Italian Association for Cancer Research (AIRC). Finally, an extremely large number of Italian tax payers choose to assign their 0.5% income tax contribution to this Institution. The Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori is a comprehensive cancer centre whose activities range from epidemiology (both descriptive and molecular) to rehabilitation and palliative care, through innovative prevention, diagnosis and treatment. Being a centre of research and care in accordance with its institutional mission, INT is in a privileged position to conduct translational research. To this end, large, multidisciplinary groups, including both basic
scientists and clinicians, and also bio-‐informaticians and statisticians, work together to plan major multidisciplinary research projects. As a comprehensive cancer centre for excellence, INT is deeply committed to quality education and training. Educational activities are available for clinical and experimental researchers at different stages of their education and training. Postdoctoral research fellowships, graduate student training, medical residency training, psychology and social work training, as well as many opportunities for continuing medical education are part of the wide ranging academic options available at INT. As regards research activities, various flexible, multidisciplinary groups have been set up according to research objectives which, on the one hand, are part of a Strategic Program, and on the other originate from the specific scientific need of each Department. The Development of New Therapies in Medical Oncology is focused on testing new drugs for the treatment of various solid tumours, such as breast, head & neck, urothelial and gynecologic cancers. The Prostate Program involves a wide range of scientists and clinicians in a program that combines clinical trials with extensive experimental research. The Lung Program studies new ways for early detection of the disease with proteomic blood analysis, but also cancer stem cells, tumour progression, and apoptosis regulation and targetable cells, whereas the Breast Program concentrates on gene expression profiling and on the study of cancer initiating cells. The Melanoma research group, in collaboration with the Immunobiology Units, studies human melanoma interaction with the microenvironment in order to characterize pro-‐inflammatory and immunosuppressive programs activated in these tumours. At the preclinical level, the research programs of The Hereditary Tumours group are focused on the identification of genetic markers, and on the development of in vitro and in vivo assays for the classification of allelic variants in known cancer susceptibility genes. Current research in the Experimental Oncology Department includes investigations on molecular and cellular determinants and mechanisms of tumour onset, growth and progression. There is also research into inherited factors underlying genetic susceptibility to cancer, in both humans and experimental mouse models. More therapeutically oriented studies are aimed at developing and selecting new analogues of conventional drugs, as well as new target-‐specific agents, and optimizing their use in different experimental models. Studies identifying growth signals and checkpoint functions that are essential for the proliferation and survival of cancer cells are being used to identify and validate predictors of tumour progression and treatment response. They also help define new targets for drug therapy and novel therapeutic approaches to modulate cellular response to drugs currently used as chemo preventive and/or anticancer agents. The relationship between the immune system, tissue undergoing transformation and tumour progression is also studied. Therapeutic studies also include basic, translational and clinical analyses of the different aspects of anti-‐tumour immunity and of regulatory mechanisms interfering with immune recognition of tumour cells. Vaccination studies are on going in patients with melanoma, prostate and colon cancer, and neuroblastoma. The Rare Tumour Network is devoted to distant patient sharing in the area of adult rare solid tumours, primarily sarcomas, and is linked to the Italian Sarcoma Group. In the area of Genitourinary tumours, INT is promoting innovative phase 2 trials with targeted agents in urothelial cancer and rare tumours like testicular and penile cancer. Dr Necchi is currently the member of the Executive Committee of the Genitourinary Cancers Research Group of the European Organisation for the Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) and member of the Penile Cancer Guidelines Panel of the European Association of Urology (EAU). Web: http://www.istitutotumori.mi.it