Hemolymphopathology and Immunopathology

Research areas

The objective of the research is to detect the biological prognostic factors, whether in neoplastic populations or the tumor micro-environment, which can indicate those patients at higher risk of chemoresistence and disease progression who are thus candidates for intensified or targeted therapy.

Tumor development and spread are not only the results of intrinsic events due to a malignant clone, such as the activation of oncogenesis or the inactivation of tumor suppressor genes; they are also due to the ability of the latter process to cause a state of immunosuppression. As a result, the neoplastic cells are not recognized and destroyed by the immune system (cancer-immunoediting).

This phenomenon leads in turn to a reprogramming of the immune system, causing a “switch” from an effective anti-tumor response to a chronic state of inflammation, which facilitates neoplastic progression. These mechanisms for avoiding immunosurveillance become established thanks to the interaction of the tumor with the micro-environment (ME). The objective of the research, through the application of many immuno-histochemical staining processes and new molecular methods, is to extensively characterize the neoplastic cellls and the ME populations in hematological tumors, understand the interaction between the tumor and the immune system, and identify factors which can predict the response to immunotherapy.

Research projects

•  Define the molecular markers which can predict the response to immuno-checkpoint inhibitors in classic Hodgkins lymphoma and primary mediastinal large B-cell lymphoma.
• Protein and/or molecular factors of the micro-environment in non-Hodgkins lymphoma follicular center cells which can predict early response/relapse, with particular focus on early relapse.