CENTRO DI RIFERIMENTO ONCOLOGICO
Technology Transfer Opportunities Contact: Ermes Mestroni emestroni@cro.it
EPIGENETIC MARKERS OF PROGNOSIS AND RESPONSE TO THERAPY IN SOLID TUMORS Technology overview - EP11152864 The ever-growing need for a patient-tailored comprehensive approach in cancer is driving significant research efforts to identify new markers of disease prognosis and response to therapy. The availability of highly reliable and easily assessable prognostic tools is of critical relevance to identify patients at higher risk of a more unfavourable course of disease that may require a different follow-up and therapeutic intervention as compared to individuals with a more favourable prognosis. On the other hand, the availability of predictive markers of response to treatment will allow identifying the most appropriate therapeutic option for a given patient, avoiding unnecessary exposures to un-effective if not harmful drugs. Along this line, based on its long-standing scientific and technological skill in the filed of cancer epigenetics, the Advanced Immunotherapy Unit of CRO has undertaken the original approach of investigating epigenetic alterations, and in particular DNA methylation, as a tool to identify novel molecular prognostic and predictive markers in patients with solid malignancies, utilizing cutaneous melanoma as a “model disease�. These research themes are developed in tight collaboration with the Division of Medical Oncology and Immunotherapy of the Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria of Siena (AOUS), Italy.