You are kindly invited to the Lecture of Livio Trusolino, PhD Assistant Professor of Histology School of Medicine, University of Torino, Italy “Preclinical strategies for precision medicine in metastatic colorectal cancer: opportunities and challenges.” Thursday, 9 October 2014 14.30 AM Auditorium CMVB – 9th floor Building CDG Host: Max Mazzone The objective of Livio Trusolino’s laboratory is to unravel the signaling pathways and genomic traits that selectively mediate drug sensitivity and therapeutic responsiveness/resistance in solid tumors, with a special emphasis on targeted therapies in colorectal cancer. To this aim, the laboratory deploys different technological platforms (phosphoproteomics, gene expression profiling, next-generation DNA and RNA sequencing, gene copy number analysis) and various experimental settings (cell lines, xenopatients, i.e. xenografts of patientderived material, and genetically modified animal models). The research pipeline involves the use of integrated, large-scale genomic data for discovery and hypothesis generation, followed by mechanistic insight in cell lines, preclinical validation in animal models, and clinical proof of concept in patients. This knowledge will form a predictive basis for the rational identification of novel tumor targets and will provide hints for molecularly driven patient stratification. Publications 1. Bertotti A, Trusolino L. From bench to bedside: does preclinical practice in translational oncology need some rebuilding? J Natl Cancer Inst. 2013 Oct 2;105(19):1426-7. 2. Bardelli A, Corso S, Bertotti A, Hobor S, Valtorta E, Siravegna G, Sartore-Bianchi A, Scala E, Cassingena A, Zecchin D, Apicella M, Migliardi G, Galimi F, Lauricella C, Zanon C, Perera T, Veronese S, Corti G, Amatu A, Gambacorta M, Diaz LA Jr, Sausen M, Velculescu VE, Comoglio P, Trusolino L, Di Nicolantonio F, Giordano S, Siena S. Amplification of the MET receptor drives resistance to anti-EGFR therapies in colorectal cancer. Cancer Discov. 2013;3:658-73. 3. Bertotti A, Migliardi G, Galimi F, Sassi F, Torti D, Isella C, Corà D, Di Nicolantonio F, Buscarino M, Petti C, Ribero D, Russolillo N, Muratore A, Massucco P, Pisacane A, Molinaro L, Valtorta E, Sartore-Bianchi A, Risio M, Capussotti L, Gambacorta M, Siena S, Medico E, Sapino A, Marsoni S, Comoglio PM, Bardelli A, Trusolino L. A molecularly annotated platform of patient-derived xenografts ("xenopatients") identifies HER2 as an effective therapeutic target in cetuximab-resistant colorectal cancer. Cancer Discov. 2011;1:508-23.