Category: Post & News

Are the Benefits of New Cancer Drugs Worth the Cost? Post & News admin December 22, 2022 Newswise — An international research group including scientists from Italy, the United States, Ireland, and Israel have published a three-year analysis of the Mesothelioma (Me) drug trial, Check-Mate 743 (CM-743). The trial studied the use of combination therapy with Nivolumab and Ipilimumab to treat this stubborn cancer arising from pleural linens and mostly related to exposure to asbestos fibers.The project has been led by Antonio Giordano  Director of Sbarro Institute for Cancer Research and Molecular Medicine at Temple University, President of the Sbarro Health Research Organization (SHRO) and affiliated as well with the University of Siena, and Luciano Mutti Professor at Oncology University of l’ Aquila.  Department of Applied Clinical Sciences and Biotechnology and Adj Prof of Translational Oncology attorney  SHRO.Although CM-743 has prompted some regulatory bodies to approve this treatment as a front-line therapy for Me, the authors had already raised serious concerns over the actual efficacy in an analysis published on JAMA Network Open in March 2022.In this article, the authors go further and not only provide the evidence that the same biases pointed out earlier still affect the three-year results of CM-743 but also scrutinize all the most recent trials conducted on Me remarking how these trials should also be considered with great caution. “All these other trials show one or more of the biases noted in CM-743,” the author remark, “in particular, patient selection and the sub-optimal control arm are worrisome and determine conditions that are really too far away from the clinical reality to allow any conclusions of the treatments proposed. In Italy, Ipilimumab/Nivolumab received the registration only in very selected cases,” the authors continue, “and on the basis of our analysis we are convinced that none of these treatments show any significant step forward in the fight against this tumor.”   The authors also provide evidence that not only the new treatments proposed for Me but, more generally, those proposed for many other tumors have put health systems worldwide under huge financial stress without demonstrating a comparable impact on patient survival.“This evidence should be carefully considered. The cost of treatment should be gauged on the actual benefit to patients. If a drug is approved on the basis of improved progression-free survival cannot cost as much as another one that confers better survival when compared with the more effective standard treatment,” the authors conclude. Previous PostNext Post

Dr. Giordano meets Speaker Nancy Pelosi, De Laurentiis & Petrone at the 47th anniversary of NIAF Post & News admin October 31, 2022 Washington D.C. Professor Antonio Giordano founder of Sbarro Health Research Organization (SHRO) meet with Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, Aurelio De Laurentiis, President of Napoli Football Club, and Massimo Petrone of the Petrone Group on the occasion of the 47th Anniversary of ‘The National Italian American Foundation’ (NIAF) hosted at Washington D.C. Professor Giordano is close with Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her family and has extended his good wishes and prayers to the Pelosi family. Previous PostNext Post

Cellular Cilium an Early Sign of Mesothelioma Differentiation Post & News admin October 28, 2022 As Published on Newswise — A new study investigated the expression of the primary cilium in mesothelioma, finding that primary cilia is preferentially lost in the more aggressive subtype of mesothelioma and further research may confirm its potential prognostic and diagnostic value. This is the first evidence that different mesothelioma, characterized by different levels of aggressiveness, show a different pattern of primary cilium expression. Primary cilium is an organelle protruding from the cell membrane that, like an antenna, collects signals from the extracellular space and transduces information into cells. Many tumors do not express the primary cilium thereby overriding its tumor suppressor function. Despite the importance of the primary cilium, there is still a lot to understand about its functions. The study, published in the journal Cancers, was directed by Antonio Giordano, M.D., Ph.D., Professor at the Department of Medical Biotechnology of the University of Siena and President of the Sbarro Health Research Organization (SHRO). “With this study we have identified a possible marker of the heterogeneity of this orphan disease, mesothelioma, a tumor with still poor prognosis,” said prof. Giordano. “The improvement of existing treatments for mesothelioma is mainly hampered by the heterogeneity that characterizes it.” “This study underlines the importance of tailored therapies for mesothelioma patients,” said Cristiana Bellan, Professor at the Department of Medical Biotechnology of the University of Siena, “and in this context our analysis can help identify which patients could benefit from specific treatment.” Journal Reference:  Barbarino, M. et al. Analysis of Primary Cilium Expression and Hedgehog Pathway Activation in Mesothelioma Throws Back Its Complex Biology. Cancers 2022, 14, 5216. https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers14215216 Previous PostNext Post

Adverse Events Linked to PD-1 Blockade in Some Lung Cancer Patients Post & News admin October 12, 2022 Original Newswise post Newswise — Treatments with  PD-1/PD-L1 immuno-checkpoint inhibitors are potentially related to adverse events in patients with metastatic Non-Small-Cell-Lung Cancer (mNSCLC). The article, “PD-1/PD-L1 immuno-checkpoint blockade induces immune-effector cells modulation in metastatic Non-Small-Cell-Lung Cancer (mNSCLC)  patients: a single cell Flow Cytometry approach,” has been recently accepted for publication by Frontiers in Oncology. It describes the results of a multicenter retrospective immunobiological analysis involving researchers from multiple scientific institutions, including the Sbarro Institute for Cancer Research and Molecular Medicine in Philadelphia, under the direction of Antonio Giordano, M.D., Ph.D., President and founder of the Sbarro Health Research Organization (SHRO). Collaborators include scientists working at the Grand Metropolitan Hospital “Bianchi Melacrino Morelli” in Reggio Calabria, and the universities of Catanzaro, Palermo, Naples, and Siena, Italy. The study coordinated by Giordano, and led by Pierpaolo Correale, M.D., Ph.D., Ciro Botta, M.D., Ph.D., and Luciano Mutti, M.D., used an innovative bioinformatic analysis to evaluate if PD-1/PD-L1 blocking could trigger autoimmunity. “Our analysis,” says Giordano, “revealed a clear-cut treatment-related decline in the immunosuppressant cells coupled with an increase of immune cells active against cancer. On the other hand, in the same patients, as a result of the deregulation of specific immune subpopulations (e.g. NKT cells) treatment-related autoantibodies (AAb) rise and multiple immune-related adverse events occur.” “This study,” continues Correale, “has been designed because there is an urgent need  to achieve a better  characterization of the immune-biological process underlying  the effects of PD-1/PD-L1 immune-checkpoint.” “This proof-of-concept study shows AAbs’ as well as the immune- monitoring of specific peripheral lymphocyte subsets should be investigated as potential biomarkers of autoimmunity and (potentially) treatment response in patients with NSCLC receiving PD-1/PDL1 immune-checkpoint blockade.” Mutti concludes: “In order to identify other  possible mechanistic scenarios, there is need of other studies in this direction, including inflammatory and angiogenesis studies but the trail is  blazed.” About the Sbarro Health Research Organization The Sbarro Health Research Organization (SHRO) is non-profit charity committed to funding excellence in basic genetic research to cure and diagnose cancer, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and other chronic illnesses and to foster the training of young doctors in a spirit of professionalism and humanism. To learn more about the SHRO please visit www.shro.org Click here to read the original press release by Newswise. Previous PostNext Post