Ricerc@Sapienza

The antitumor agent 6-((7-nitrobenzo[c][1,2,5]oxadiazol-4-yl)thio)hexan-1-ol (1) is a potent inhibitor of GSTP1-1, a glutathione S-transferase capable of inhibiting apoptosis by binding to JNK1 and TRAF2. We recently demonstrated that, unlike its parent compound, the benzoyl ester of 1 (compound 3) exhibits negligible reactivity towards GSH, and has a different mode of interaction with GSTP1-1. Unfortunately, 3 is susceptible to rapid metabolic hydrolysis.

Checkpoint inhibitor-based immunotherapy is opening a promising scenario in oncology, with objective responses registered in multiple cancer types. However, reliable predictive markers of tumor responsiveness are still lacking. These markers need to be urgently identified for a better selection of patients that can be candidates for immunotherapy. In this pilot study, a cohort of 34 consecutive patients bearing programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1)-positive non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC), treated with pembrolizumab, was considered.

More than 20 years after its approval by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), liposomal doxorubicin (DOX) is still the drug of choice for the treatment of breast cancer and other conditions such as ovarian cancer and multiple myeloma. Yet, despite the efforts, liposomal DOX did not satisfy expectations at the clinical level. When liposomal drugs enter a physiological environment, their surface gets coated by a dynamic biomolecular corona (BC).

Autophagy is a catabolic process whose activation may help cancer cells to adapt to cellular stress although, in some instances, it can induce cell death. Autophagy stimulation or inhibition has been considered an opportunity to treat cancer, especially in combination with anticancer therapies, although autophagy manipulation may be viewed as controversial. Thus, whether to induce or to inhibit autophagy may be the best option in the different cancer patients is still matter of debate.