Adnkronos (Adnkronos) – This is the first call for independent clinical research promoted by the Veronesi Foundation and Ficog (Federation of Italian Cooperative Oncology Groups) and will support the efforts of teams on the front lines of pancreatic cancer research. The winners are Davide Melisi, director of the Experimental Therapies in Oncology Unit at the Integrated University Hospital (AOUI) of Verona, and Michele Reni, director of the strategic clinical coordination program of the Pancreas Center at the IRCCS San Raffaele Hospital in Milan.
The call, the promoters explain in a statement, was published last March and was born from the alliance between the Veronesi Foundation and the Ficog Federation with the aim of selecting clinical research projects on this challenging tumor, which still poses too many challenges. The winning experts will coordinate two major multicenter studies for the next 36 months (Basal-like PDAC with KRAS G12D/TGFβR2 therapy Blaze-PDAC; and the Phase 3 Giotto trial in elderly pancreatic cancer Pact-36 Giotto).
“Pancreatic cancer is one of the most feared oncological diseases and has the most inauspicious prognosis – underlines Giuseppe Procopio, president of Ficog and director of the Prostate Program at the IRCCS National Cancer Institute (INT) in Milan – This is clearly demonstrated by the available data which show that in Italy, with over 13 thousand new cases per year, there are more than 14 thousand deaths.
Secondary prevention is very difficult, while available treatment options are limited, although they have been growing in recent years. However, so far we have not achieved the progress we have seen in other forms of cancer. This is precisely why clinical research must be encouraged as much as possible, especially independent research that can find new and more effective diagnostic and therapeutic tools. The cooperative groups we represent have been engaged in studies and trials for years that have at times changed clinical practice internationally. We hope this will soon also happen in the challenging management of patients with pancreatic cancer.
"Our Federation," adds Procopio, "has always promoted active collaboration between clinical centers, cooperative groups, and national and international networks. Research can also be strengthened through collaboration with prestigious foundations, such as the one strongly supported and founded by Professor Umberto Veronesi. We therefore thank all those who participated in the call and wish the two winners success in their endeavors." As for the Veronesi Foundation, as Valentina Gambino, coordinator of the research and treatment platforms of the Umberto Veronesi ETS Foundation, explains, "it has always been committed to funding scientific research with the aim of concretely contributing to the development of new knowledge and new treatment options for patients. This first call for independent clinical research on pancreatic cancer represents a further step in this journey and strengthens our commitment to this particularly complex field."
The two winning projects, Gambino explains, "address different challenges, but share an ambitious goal: to attempt to address unmet clinical needs and fill gaps that have not yet been adequately explored by research. The study coordinated by Melisi aims to exploit the tumor's biological characteristics to understand which patients could be treated without chemotherapy and using next-generation drugs instead. The study to be conducted by Reni, on the other hand, aims to optimize treatment selection in elderly patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer."
"Funding independent research," concludes the Veronesi Foundation expert, "means filling a huge need, to the benefit of patients, by providing concrete and timely answers to the needs of people with cancer."
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