Publications by authors named "U Cavallaro"
In ovarian tumors, the omental microenvironment profoundly influences the behavior of cancer cells and sustains the acquisition of stem-like traits, with major impacts on tumor aggressiveness and relapse. Here, we leverage a patient-derived platform of organotypic cultures to study the crosstalk between the tumor microenvironment and ovarian cancer stem cells. We discovered that the pro-tumorigenic transcription factor FOXM1 is specifically induced by the microenvironment in ovarian cancer stem cells, through activation of FAK/YAP signaling.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFOvarian cancer (OC) displays the highest mortality among gynecological tumors, mainly due to early peritoneal dissemination, the high frequency of tumor relapse following primary debulking, and the development of chemoresistance. All these events are thought to be initiated and sustained by a subpopulation of neoplastic cells, termed ovarian cancer stem cells (OCSC), that are endowed with self-renewing and tumor-initiating properties. This implies that interfering with OCSC function should offer novel therapeutic perspectives to defeat OC progression.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEpithelial ovarian cancer (OC) is the most lethal gynecological malignancy worldwide due to a late diagnosis caused by the lack of specific symptoms and rapid dissemination into the peritoneal cavity. The standard of care for OC treatment is surgical cytoreduction followed by platinum-based chemotherapy. While a response to this frontline treatment is common, most patients undergo relapse within 2 years and frequently develop a chemoresistant disease that has become unresponsive to standard treatments.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFArticle Synopsis
- Recent research has focused on molecules that can modulate β-adrenergic signaling, highlighting their potential for therapeutic applications, particularly in cancer treatment.
- Despite progress in drug discovery, finding selective β-adrenergic receptor (β-AR) ligands remains difficult due to the complex nature of these receptors and the need for specificity.
- The study synthesized a series of compounds based on a specific chemical scaffold, which helped uncover important structural features that influence their effectiveness and selectivity for different β-AR subtypes, potentially aiding in targeted drug development.
Background: Individual serum biomarkers are neither adequately sensitive nor specific for use in screening the general population for ovarian cancer. The purpose of this study was to develop a multiprotein classifier to detect the early stages of ovarian cancer, when it is most treatable.
Methods: The Olink Proseek Multiplex Oncology II panel was used to simultaneously quantify the expression levels of 92 cancer-related proteins in sera.