Tumours develop specific adaptation mechanisms that modify their metabolic characteristics by activating or inhibiting specific pathways. Giacomo Lazzarino, Professor of Biochemistry at UniCamillus University, talks about this in his paper entitled Molecular strategies for cancer growth: different cancer, different metabolic adaptation, presented at the 4th Workshop organised by the Italian Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (SIB). The event, which focused on the theme Tumor Biochemistry – Biochemical Dynamics in Tumor Microenvironment: new Insights and Implications, was held in Catania on 16th and 17th September. Lazzarino participated as an invited speaker and received the Best Oral Communication certificate for his talk.
The meeting was highly relevant in the context of the interconnection between research and medicine and aimed to provide information on new insights and implications of biochemical dynamics in the tumour microenvironment. “Particular attention was paid to the reprogramming strategies of cellular metabolism that cancer cells use to grow and proliferate”, explains Professor Lazzarino. “The studies presented in the report”, he adds, “have not only highlighted how the different strategies adopted by different tumours have the common goal of regulating the same metabolic cycles in order to promote tumor proliferation, but have also identified some potential molecular targets for the development of targeted therapeutic treatments“.
Interdisciplinarity and the constant interconnection between research and medicine are, not surprisingly, the main directions that UniCamillus University is taking, both in its educational activities and in supporting the work of its researchers. “I believe that it is fundamental for a university like UniCamillus, which works in the field of biomedicine and health, to be an active participant in scientific research“, said Professor Lazzarino. “Our many objectives share the need to further identify risk factors in order to prevent the onset of diseases, to develop advanced diagnostic techniques in order to detect the onset of diseases at their earliest stages, and to identify targeted therapies, not only for different pathological conditions, but above all for each individual patient”.
Professor Lazzarino’s achievements are therefore the result of the intense basic and clinical research activities developed by UniCamillus, also in collaboration with other universities—the award-winning report was written in collaboration with research groups from the University of Tor Vergata and the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Rome. “Tutors and researchers have the opportunity to improve the quality of the university’s educational activities and to be active players in the progress of medicine, developing collaborations with important national and international research groups”, highlights Professor Lazzarino. This will also benefit the students, who will be able to “enter the world of research more easily, acquire high level scientific skills and develop critical thinking whilst studying”.