Publications by authors named "Stefania Durando"
Article Synopsis
- Trastuzumab is the only approved targeted therapy for patients with HER2-amplified metastatic gastric cancer (GC), but it only provides long-term benefits for a small number of patients.
- A study was conducted to test various HER2-targeted treatments in gastric cancer tumors with high HER2 amplification, using patient-derived xenografts.
- The results showed that combining trastuzumab with other treatments like pertuzumab or lapatinib resulted in significantly better responses, suggesting that a stronger therapeutic approach could benefit patients with HER2-driven gastric tumors despite some previous clinical trial failures.
Article Synopsis
- Gastric and gastroesophageal adenocarcinomas are a major cause of cancer-related deaths, with advanced cases showing poor treatment outcomes, especially when using anti-EGFR agents without molecular selection.
- Research included four patient cohorts and preclinical studies using patient-derived xenografts, revealing that EGFR amplification correlates with worse prognosis and treatment response.
- The study suggests that combining EGFR inhibitors with other therapies, like mTOR inhibitors, can enhance treatment effectiveness and overcome resistance in specific cancer cases.
Article Synopsis
- Gastric cancer is the third leading cause of cancer deaths globally, and despite treatment advancements, patients with advanced stages have poor outcomes, highlighting the need for new therapeutic targets.
- Researchers developed a comprehensive platform of gastric cancer models, including 100 patient-derived xenografts (PDX), primary cell lines, and organoids, classified by various molecular and histological traits.
- Analysis of the PDX models revealed a specific microsatellite instability (MSI) signature that helps identify a subgroup of microsatellite stable (MSS) patients with better prognosis, suggesting new avenues for treatment and target validation.
Patient-Derived Xenografts (PDXs), entailing implantation of cancer specimens in immunocompromised mice, are emerging as a valuable translational model that could help validate biologically relevant targets and assist the clinical development of novel therapeutic strategies for gastric cancer. More than 30% of PDXs generated from gastric carcinoma samples developed human B-cell lymphomas instead of gastric cancer. These lymphomas were monoclonal, Epstein Barr Virus (EBV) positive, originated tumorigenic cell cultures and displayed a mutational burden and an expression profile distinct from gastric adenocarcinomas.
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