Ricerc@Sapienza

Cells of the innate immunity play an important role in tumor immunotherapy. Thus, NK cells can control tumor growth and metastatic spread. Thanks to their strong cytolytic activity against tumors, different approaches have been developed for exploiting/harnessing their function in patients with leukemia or solid tumors. Pioneering trials were based on the adoptive transfer of autologous NK cell-enriched cell populations that were expanded in vitro and co-infused with IL-2.

Advanced, recurrent and metastatic endometrial cancer (EC) has a dismal prognosis due to poor response rates to conventional treatments. In the era of precision medicine, the improved understanding of cancer genetics and molecular biology has led to the development of targeted therapies, such as poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitors. This class of drugs that inhibit PARP enzymes has been investigated in many different types of tumors and its use in the treatment of gynecological malignancies has rapidly increased over the past few years.

The immune checkpoint inhibitors, a class of drugs able to block immune suppressive pathways in order to prime an anticancer immunity, revolutionized standard of care in platinum-refractory recurrent and/or metastatic head and neck carcinoma (R/M HNSCC). The PD-1/ PD-L1 axis is involved in the genesis, maintenance and progression of HNSCC and represents the target of checkpoint inhibitors. HNSCC is an immunosuppressive disease with a high inflammatory component in tumor microenvironment. Recent clinical trials showed that only a small subset of patients really benefits from immunotherapy.

Patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) have been shown to benefit from the
introduction of anti-PD1 treatment. However, not all patients experience tumor regression and
durable response. The identification of a string of markers that are direct or indirect indicators of
the immune system fitness is needed to choose optimal therapeutic schedules in the management
of NSCLC patients. We analyzed 34 immuno-related molecules (14 soluble immune checkpoints,
17 cytokines/chemokines, 3 adhesion molecules) released in the serum of 22 NSCLC patients under

Although around 80% of endometrial cancers are diagnosed at early stages and present with a 5-year survival rate exceeding 95%, patients with advanced and recurrent disease show a poor prognosis and low response rates to standard chemotherapy.

In recent years, immunotherapy has been proposed for the treatment of asymptomatic or minimally symptomatic metastatic castrate-resistant prostate cancer (PCa). Clinical trials using Sipuleucel-T have demonstrated a survival benefit in PCa patients, suggesting that this cancer is linked to a limited immune response. However, the outcome of PCa treated with immune therapeutics has limited benefits in monotherapy: novel vaccination approaches and immune checkpoint blockade gave disappointing results.