CENTRO DI RIFERIMENTO ONCOLOGICO
Technology Transfer Opportunities Contact: Ermes Mestroni emestroni@cro.it
GENETIC AND GENOMIC TOOLS FOR THE DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT OF SOLID TUMORS Technology Overview Cancer is a generic term for a large group of diseases that can affect any part of the body. Cancer arises from one single cell through a multistage process that involves the progressive gain of genetic defects. These genetic defects, called “mutations”, may be constitutional (we refer to these cases as hereditary or familial cancers) or somatic (hence limited to the tumor cell population and due to external factors). The Unit of Experimental Oncology 1 focuses its research activities on the elucidation of the molecular mechanisms that promote neoplastic transformation, with particular emphasis on sarcomas, breast and lung cancers and hereditary carcinomas. The aim of these studies is to identify genetic and genomics defects that underlie tumor development and, based on these discovers, to set up and validate novel and more effective diagnostic, prognostic, predictive and therapeutic approaches to solid cancers. To this end the Unit takes advantage of up-to-date technologies including different procedures for mutation detection, Sanger and next generation sequencing, isolation and manipulation of cancer stem cells, functional genetic screens, in vitro and in vivo tumor modeling.
Advantages √ √ √ √ √ √
broad knowhow and multidisciplinary teams up-to-date technologies and expertise in cancer genetics and functional genomics up-to date techniques for the isolation and characterization of novel cancer genes up-to date techniques for the detection and validation of gene alterations know-how in the isolation and manipulation of cancer stem cells access to biological material
Looking for partnership with companies interested at:
⇒ development of ready-to-use and cost-effective assays for the identification of gene alterations of diagnostic, prognostic, predictive and therapeutic impact, with particular reference to sarcomas, breast and lung cancers and hereditary carcinomas
⇒ development and validation of novel targeted therapies for solid tumors (identification of novel target genes, design of novel targeted compounds, generation of best suited genetic models, testing and validation), including compounds targeting cancer stem cells
⇒ joint applications for industry-oriented grants.
More Information Roberta Maestro, Director Unit of Experimental Oncology 1 maestro@cro.it Tel.: +39-0434-659-670