(ANSA) – BARI, 25 AUG – A study on the correlation between cholesterol metabolism and the function of macrophages, the “scavenger” cells that eliminate and destroy cancer cells, conducted by the team of the hematological diagnostics and cell characterization research laboratory of the Cancer Institute of Bari, was published in the international journal Hematological Oncology. The research was conducted on diffuse large cell lymphoma, an aggressive form of blood cancer, which is not yet curable for 40 out of 100 patients. According to the study, cholesterol would affect the inflammatory and antitumor action of macrophages, determining the success or less than a drug or therapy.
“The study, conducted in collaboration with the hemolymphopathology unit of the European Institute of Oncology in Milan and the Hospital Clinic in Barcelona – explains Alessandro Delle Donne, the director general of the Bari oncology department -, develops and deepens some insights on which the our researchers have been working for years, already published in the most important international journals “.
The work bears the signature of Maria Carmela Vegliante and was coordinated by Sabino Ciavarella, head of the Bari laboratory that operates within the Hematology unit of the Oncological Institute, directed by Attilio Guarini. The next steps of the research will focus on the type of drug response, with the aim of identifying more personalized therapies. The patient will not have to undergo invasive examinations or investigations. Doctors will be able to study the behavior of scavenger cells already during the biopsy, thanks to a new technology, called Nanostring, which is able to measure the biological parameters related to the function of macrophages and which is already in use in oncology in Bari. (HANDLE).
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