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Browsing by Author "Carrozza, Francesco"
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Item Emerging immunotherapeutic strategies targeting telomerases in genitourinary tumors(Elsevier, 2018) Carrozza, Francesco; Santoni, Matteo; Piva, Francesco; Cheng, Liang; Lopez-Beltran, Antonio; Scarpelli, Marina; Montironi, Rodolfo; Battelli, Nicola; Tamberi, Stefano; Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, School of MedicineTelomerase activity and telomere length are essential for the pathogenesis of several human diseases, including genitourinary tumors. Telomerase constitutes a complex system that includes human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT), human telomerase RNA component (hTR) and telomerase associated protein 1 (TEP1), which are overexpressed in tumor cells compared to normal cells and are involved in the carcinogenesis and progression of renal cell carcinoma (RCC), bladder (BC) and prostate cancer (PCa). In addition, telomerase degraded peptide fragments expressed on the surface of tumor cells lead to their recognition by immune cells. On this scenario, in vitro and in vivo studies have shown effective anti-tumor activity of hTERT-tailored strategies in genitourinary tumors, including active immunotherapy with hTERT-peptide vaccines and passive immunotherapy with hTERT-transduced T cell infusion. This review emphasizes the role of telomerase in the carcinogenesis and progression of genitourinary tumors, thus underlying the potential of emerging telomerase-tailored immunotherapies in these patients.Item Exploring Small Extracellular Vesicles for Precision Medicine in Prostate Cancer(Frontiers Media, 2018-06-13) Giulietti, Matteo; Santoni, Matteo; Cimadamore, Alessia; Carrozza, Francesco; Piva, Francesco; Cheng, Liang; Lopez-Beltran, Antonio; Scarpelli, Marina; Battelli, Nicola; Montironi, Rodolfo; Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, School of MedicineTumor microenvironment constitutes a complex network in which tumor cells communicate among them and with stromal and immune cells. It has been shown that cancer cells are able to exchange genetic materials through small extracellular vesicles (EVs), a heterogeneous group of vesicles with different size and shape, cargo content, and function. The importance to investigate populations of circulating EVs would be of great importance as prostate cancer (PCa) biomarkers. In several neoplasms as well as in PCa, nanometer-sized EVs of endosomal origin are implicated in supporting tumor growth and metastatic spread by both altering local stroma cells and creating a protumor environment that favors the formation of pre-metastatic niches. Several techniques are applicable for the isolation and analysis of PCa-derived small EVs and are illustrated in this article. Due to the high sensitivity and specificity of these techniques, small EVs have become ideal candidates for early diagnosis. Moreover, we discuss the role of small EVs during PCa carcinogenesis, as well as in modulating the development of drug resistance to hormonal therapy and chemotherapy, thus underlining the potential of EV-tailored strategies in PCa patients.Item Real-World Data on Cabozantinib in Previously Treated Patients with Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma: Focus on Sequences and Prognostic Factor(MDPI, 2019) Santoni, Matteo; Heng, Daniel Y.; Bracarda, Sergio; Procopio, Giuseppe; Milella, Michele; Porta, Camillo; Matrana, Marc R.; Cartenì, Giacomo; Crabb, Simon J.; De Giorgi, Ugo; Basso, Umberto; Masini, Cristina; Calabrò, Fabio; Vitale, Maria Giuseppa; Santini, Daniele; Massari, Francesco; Galli, Luca; Fornarini, Giuseppe; Ricotta, Riccardo; Buti, Sebastiano; Zucali, Paolo; Caffo, Orazio; Morelli, Franco; Carrozza, Francesco; Martignetti, Angelo; Gelibter, Alain; Iacovelli, Roberto; Mosca, Alessandra; Atzori, Francesco; Vau, Nuno; Incorvaia, Lorena; Ortega, Cinzia; Scarpelli, Marina; Lopez-Beltran, Antonio; Cheng, Liang; Paolucci, Vittorio; Graham, Jeffrey; Pierce, Erin; Scagliarini, Sarah; Sepe, Pierangela; Verzoni, Elena; Merler, Sara; Rizzo, Mimma; Sorgentoni, Giulia; Conti, Alessandro; Piva, Francesco; Cimadamore, Alessia; Montironi, Rodolfo; Battelli, Nicola; Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, School of MedicineCabozantinib is approved for the treatment of renal cell carcinoma (RCC). However, prognostic factors are still lacking in this context. The aim of this study was to evaluate prognostic factors in RCC patients treated with second- or third-line cabozantinib. A multicenter retrospective real-world study was conducted, involving 32 worldwide centers. A total of 237 patients with histologically confirmed clear-cell and non-clear-cell RCC who received cabozantinib as second- or third-line therapy for metastatic disease were included. We analyzed overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS) and time-to-strategy failure (TTSF) using Kaplan-Meier curves. Cox proportional models were used at univariate and multivariate analyses.The median PFS and OS of cabozantinib were 7.76 months (95% CI 6.51-10.88) and 11.57 months (95% CI 10.90-not reached (NR)) as second-line and 11.38 months (95% CI 5.79-NR) and NR (95% CI 11.51-NR) as third-line therapy. The median TTSF and OS were 11.57 and 15.52 months with the sequence of cabozantinib-nivolumab and 25.64 months and NR with nivolumab-cabozantinib, respectively. The difference between these two sequences was statistically significant only in good-risk patients. In the second-line setting, hemoglobin (Hb) levels (HR= 2.39; 95% CI 1.24-4.60, p = 0.009) and IMDC (International Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma Database Consortium) group (HR = 1.72, 95% CI 1.04-2.87, p = 0.037) were associated with PFS while ECOG-PS (HR = 2.33; 95%CI, 1.16-4.69, p = 0.018) and Hb levels (HR = 3.12; 95%CI 1.18-8.26, p = 0.023) correlated with OS at multivariate analysis, while in the third-line setting, only Hb levels (HR = 2.72; 95%CI 1.04-7.09, p = 0.042) were associated with OS. Results are limited by the retrospective nature of the study.This real-world study provides evidence on the presence of prognostic factors in RCC patients receiving cabozantinib.