Breadcrumbs

The Buzzi Unicem Foundation has implemented the new method for supporting malignant pleural mesothelioma research.
The Scientific Committee is currently focused on one of the research topics aimed at finding new treatments for this disease.  
Specifically, experimental models have been produced to evaluate the use of immunotherapy in mesothelioma.

Professor Bianchi’s laboratory has produced mice that develop mesothelioma but at the same time have a perfectly functioning immune system.
The research was conducted in conjunction with Prof. D’Incalci and has been published (Mezzapelle et al, Sci Rep 6: 2285).
Using immunotherapy in cancer has recently seen great success, particularly in melanoma and colon cancer.
However, the mesothelioma models available up to now use immunodeficient mice so immunotherapies cannot work.
The mice produced in Prof. Bianchi’s laboratory replicate the characteristics of human mesothelioma well and will be used as models to develop various treatments for mesothelioma, particularly immunotherapies.
Also, it is extremely important to set up laboratories that can produce murine models so we can gain a better understanding of the pathogenesis of human malignant pleural mesothelioma and can test new therapies.

Paper: Human malignant mesothelioma is recapitulated in immunocompetent BALB/c mice injected with murine AB cells.