Cancer Immunotherapy and Gene Therapy program
DIRECTOR: Paolo Dellabona

The CIGTP was constituted in 1998 with the aim to co-ordinate the activity of the Research Units involved in the study of different aspects of tumor immunology. The Program is based on active collaborations and sharing of complementary expertise, designed to improve the definition of the strategic targets for cancer immunotherapy, rationalize the management of both human and technical resources, and optimize the translation of basic and pre-clinical studies into their clinical applications. The research activity within the Program proceeds from basic research on immunological aspect of host-tumor interaction, followed by the development of realistic pre-clinical models to rigorously validate therapeutic hypothesis, to end up in the clinical application of validated therapeutic strategies. The overall research of CIGTP is centered around three principal strategies to attack tumors. The first two strategies aim at inducing tumor-specific T cell responses by: 1. Active vaccination; and 2. Adoptive immunotherapy. The third strategy aims at inducing tumor debulking by targeting tumor associated vascular endothelium with cytotoxic biological compounds. The final scope of the Program is therefore to develop a more efficient bio-therapy of cancer, which activates on the one hand the immune system of patients, while on the other hand provokes tumor mass destruction by targeting with cytotoxic biological compounds, to obtain a radical elimination of cancerous cells from patients with the least systemic toxicity.