Hitting the tumour where it is weakest: the metabolism that makes it grow

Targeting cancer at its most vulnerable point: the way it feeds and grows. This is the frontier of cancer research on which the collaboration between Algebris Investments and the Airc Institute of Molecular Oncology (Ifom) is focusing, with the aim of transforming promising laboratory results into concrete therapies for patients. A crucial step that scientists call the 'last mile' of research. Through its Algebris Ets foundation, the group announced the signing of a sponsored research agreement with Ifom to support a two-year scientific programme dedicated to oncological immuno-metabolism, a still largely unexplored field of study but considered among the most promising for the development of new therapeutic strategies.

The project supports the activities of the team led by Claudio Vernieri, a surgeon and researcher specialising in clinical oncology and tumour metabolism, who heads the 'Metabolic Reprogramming in Solid Tumours' research programme at Ifom. The group focuses its work on the most widespread and aggressive tumours - breast, lung and colorectal - which alone account for more than a third of oncological diagnoses in Italy.

Indeed, cancer continues to be one of the leading causes of death in the country, with more than 390,000 new diagnoses each year. Despite medical advances in recent decades, for many patients with advanced or treatment-resistant tumours, options remain limited. It is precisely for them that research into tumour metabolism could open up new therapeutic perspectives.

The scientific basis of the project starts from a fundamental difference between healthy cells and cancer cells. In order to proliferate rapidly, diseased cells profoundly change their metabolism, i.e. the way they produce energy and build the components necessary for growth. A characteristic that for a long time was considered a simple consequence of the disease but that scientists now see as a possible weakness to be exploited.

Vernieri's team discovered that specific combinations of nutrients and metabolites, administered in targeted dosages, are able to selectively target tumour cells. The effect is twofold: on the one hand, these molecules directly interfere with the metabolism of the tumour; on the other hand, they activate the immune system, causing it to recognise and attack the diseased cells. It is precisely this combination of metabolic action and immune response that makes the approach scientifically innovative.