Publications by authors named "Lucia Marrodan"

Radiotherapy is a crucial treatment modality for cancer patients, with approximately 60% of individuals undergoing ionizing radiation as part of their disease management. In recent years, there has been a growing trend toward minimizing irradiation fields through the use of image-guided dosimetry and innovative technologies. These advancements allow for selective irradiation, delivering higher local doses while reducing the number of treatment sessions.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Pediatric high-grade gliomas (pHGGs), particularly diffuse midline gliomas (DMGs), are highly aggressive tumors with low survival rates, yet the combination of Delta-24-RGD and ONC201 has shown potential for enhanced treatment efficacy.
  • In laboratory and mouse model studies, the combination treatment did not alter virus replication but demonstrated a synergistic or additive cytotoxic effect, leading to increased DNA damage and metabolic disruptions in tumor cells.
  • Additionally, the combination treatment improved survival rates in mice models and led to a shift in the tumor microenvironment towards a more proinflammatory state, indicating a stronger immune response against the tumors.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG) is a serious brain tumor and is the most common cause of cancer deaths in kids.
  • Scientists found that a protein called TIM-3 is present in both the tumor cells and nearby cells, which may help the tumor grow.
  • By blocking TIM-3, they noticed that it helped some mice live longer and fight off the tumor, showing it could be a good target for new treatments for DIPG.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The outcomes of metastatic and nonresponder pediatric osteosarcoma patients are very poor and have not improved in the last 30 years. These tumors harbor a highly immunosuppressive environment, making existing immunotherapies ineffective. Here, we evaluated the use of Semliki Forest virus (SFV) vectors expressing galectin-3 (Gal3) inhibitors as therapeutic tools, since both the inhibition of Gal3, which is involved in immunosuppression and metastasis, and virotherapy based on SFV have been demonstrated to reduce tumor progression in different tumor models.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • - Pediatric patients with diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG) have a poor prognosis, with less than 1-year median survival; studies on oncolytic viral therapy like DNX-2401 for DIPG are limited.
  • - A single-center study administered DNX-2401 to 12 newly diagnosed DIPG patients to assess safety, adverse events, and effectiveness, with treatments including a virus infusion and radiotherapy.
  • - Results showed that DNX-2401 led to tumor size reduction in 9 patients and a median survival of 17.8 months, with some patients experiencing changes in their tumor microenvironment and immune response.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • DIPGs are really tough brain tumors in kids, and doctors are looking for better treatments because current options aren’t working well.
  • A new treatment called Delta-24-ACT uses a special virus to help the immune system fight these tumors, showing promise in mice by making them live longer.
  • This treatment is safe for the mice and helps their immune systems become stronger against the tumors, suggesting it could be a good option for kids with DIPG in the future.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • * Delta-24-ACT is a modified oncolytic adenovirus that targets cancer cells and boosts immune responses, showing promise in fighting osteosarcoma.
  • * Research demonstrated that Delta-24-ACT effectively killed osteosarcoma cells in the lab and improved survival rates in mice without causing toxicity, supporting its potential as a new treatment for both local and metastatic cases.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Glioblastoma (GBM) is a tough brain tumor with a suppressive environment, but the new oncolytic virus Delta-24-ACT shows promise as a treatment, especially when paired with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs).
  • Laboratory tests confirmed that Delta-24-ACT effectively infected and killed glioma cells, prolonged survival in mouse models, and modified the tumor environment to promote immune cell activity.
  • Combining Delta-24-ACT with anti-PD-L1 therapy led to significantly better results in tumor-bearing mice than using either treatment alone, suggesting a more effective strategy for attacking GBM.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Osteosarcoma is the most frequent and aggressive bone tumor in children and adolescents, with a long-term survival rate of 30%. Interleukin-12 (IL-12) is a potent cytokine that bridges innate and adaptive immunity, triggers antiangiogenic responses, and achieves potent antitumor effects. In this work, we evaluated the antisarcoma effect of a high-capacity adenoviral vector encoding mouse IL-12.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Purpose: Atypical teratoid/rhabdoid tumors (AT/RT) and central nervous system primitive neuroectodermal tumors (CNS-PNET) are pediatric brain tumors with poor survival and life-long negative side effects. Here, the aim was to characterize the efficacy and safety of the oncolytic adenovirus, Delta-24-RGD, which selectively replicates in and kills tumor cells.

Experimental Design: Delta-24-RGD determinants for infection and replication were evaluated in patient expression datasets.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Last advances in the treatment of pediatric tumors has led to an increase of survival rates of children affected by primitive neuroectodermal tumors, however, still a significant amount of the patients do not overcome the disease. In addition, the survivors might suffer from severe side effects caused by the current standard treatments. Oncolytic virotherapy has emerged in the last years as a promising alternative for the treatment of solid tumors.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Pediatric high-grade glioma (pHGG) and diffuse intrinsic pontine gliomas (DIPGs) are aggressive pediatric brain tumors in desperate need of a curative treatment. Oncolytic virotherapy is emerging as a solid therapeutic approach. Delta-24-RGD is a replication competent adenovirus engineered to replicate in tumor cells with an aberrant RB pathway.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Osteosarcoma is the most common malignant bone tumor in children and young adults that produces aberrant osteoid. The aim of this study was to assess the utility of 2-deoxy-2-[18F-] fluoro-D-glucose ([F] FDG) and sodium [F] Fluoride (Na [F] F) PET scans in orthotopic murine models of osteosarcoma to describe the metabolic pattern of the tumors, to detect and diagnose tumors and to evaluate the efficacy of a new treatment based in oncolytic adenoviruses.

Methods: Orthotopic osteosarcoma murine models were created by the injection of 143B and 531MII cell lines.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Purpose: Osteosarcoma is the most common malignant bone tumor in children and adolescents. Despite aggressive chemotherapy, more than 30% of patients do not respond and develop bone or lung metastasis. Oncolytic adenoviruses engineered to specifically destroy cancer cells are a feasible option for osteosarcoma treatment.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Osteosarcoma is the most common malignant bone tumor in children and adolescents. The presence of metastases and the lack of response to conventional treatment are the major adverse prognostic factors. Therefore, there is an urgent need for new treatment strategies that overcome both of these problems.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objective: To determine the influence of the genotype and the level of expression of different enzymes involved in folate metabolism on the response to and toxicity of high-dose methotrexate treatment in pediatric osteosarcomas.

Study Design: DHFR and Reduced folate carrier 1 (RFC1) semiquantitative expression was analyzed in 34 primary and metastatic osteosarcoma tissues by real-time polymerase chain reaction. The following polymorphisms were also analyzed in peripheral blood from 96 children with osteosarcoma and 110 control subjects: C677T, A1298C (MTHFR), G80A (RFC1), A2756G (MTR), C1420T (SHMT), the 28bp-repeat polymorphism, and 1494del6 of the TYMS gene.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF