Carlo Gambacorti-Passerini
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Carlo Gambacorti-Passerini (born 26 August 1957) is an Italian
oncologist Oncology is a branch of medicine that deals with the study, treatment, diagnosis, and prevention of cancer. A medical professional who practices oncology is an ''oncologist''. The name's etymological origin is the Greek word ὄγκος (''à ...
and hematologist known for his contributions to
cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...
research. He is Professor of Internal Medicine and Hematology at the
University of Milan Bicocca The University of Milano-Bicocca (, UNIMIB) is a public university located in Milan, Italy, providing undergraduate, graduate and post-graduate education. Established in 1998, it was ranked by the ''Times Higher Education'' 2014 ranking of the ...
in
Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
and Director of the Hematology Department at S. Gerardo Hospital,
Monza Monza (, ; ; , locally ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) on the Lambro, River Lambro, a tributary of the Po (river), River Po, in the Lombardy region of Italy, about north-northeast of Milan. It is the capital of the province of Mo ...
, Italy. He was Senior Investigator and Head of the Oncogenic Fusion Proteins Unit at the National Cancer Institute, Milan Italy from 1990 to 2003, and Professor of Oncology and Hematology at McGill University,
Montreal, Quebec Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...
,
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
, from 2004 to 2007.


Research

His main scientific contribution relates to the preclinical and clinical development of
imatinib Imatinib, sold under the brand names Gleevec and Glivec (both marketed worldwide by Novartis) among others, is an oral targeted therapy medication used to treat cancer. Imatinib is a small molecule inhibitor targeting multiple tyrosine kinases ...
. His publications between 1997 and 2000 are among the earliest original reports on this revolutionary drug. Specifically, he showed that
apoptosis Apoptosis (from ) is a form of programmed cell death that occurs in multicellular organisms and in some eukaryotic, single-celled microorganisms such as yeast. Biochemistry, Biochemical events lead to characteristic cell changes (Morphology (biol ...
, or programmed cell death, was the predominant mechanism through which imatinib eliminates
leukemic Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia; pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and produce high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ''leu ...
cells, that leukemic animals could be cured using imatinib, and that resistance to imatinib could be mediated by gene amplification of BCR-ABL1. Dr. Gambacorti-Passerini is the
Chairman The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the gro ...
of the ILTE (Imatinib Long Term side Effects) study, an independent clinical study aimed at assessing the long-term effects of imatinib in 948 CML patients worldwide, which showed for the first time that CML patients in remission have a normal life expectancy. From 2006 to 2011, Dr. Gambacorti-Passerini was the first researcher to develop at preclinical and clinical level another drug for CML named
bosutinib Bosutinib, sold under the brand name Bosulif, is a small molecule BCR-ABL and src tyrosine kinase inhibitor used for the treatment of chronic myelogenous leukemia. Originally synthesized by Wyeth, it is being developed by Pfizer. Mechanism ...
. He is also the first researcher who (in June 2010) successfully treated a patient affected by ALK+ lymphoma with an ALK inhibitor (
crizotinib Crizotinib, sold under the brand name Xalkori among others, is an anti-cancer medication used for the treatment of non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC). Crizotinib inhibits the c-Met/ Hepatocyte growth factor receptor (HGFR) tyrosine kinase, wh ...
). The events which led to the discovery of crizotinib for the treatment of ALK+ lymphomas became part of a novel entitled "Tu sarai la prima" ("You will be the first one", translations sought). In 2012 and 2015 Dr. Gambacorti-Passerini discovered ''
SETBP1 SET binding protein 1 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the SETBP1 gene. Gene The gene is located on Chromosome 18, specifically on the long (q) arm of the chromosome at position 12.3. This is also written as 18q12.3. Function The ...
'' and '' ETNK1'' as two novel oncogenes and identified specific mutations of these genes in patients affected by
atypical Chronic Myeloid Leukemia Atypical chronic myeloid leukemia (aCML) is a type of leukemia. It is a heterogeneous disorder belonging to the group of myelodysplastic/myeloproliferative (MDS/MPN) syndromes. In aCML many clinical features (splenomegaly, myeloid predominance in ...
(aCML).Fontana D, Mauri M, Renso R,...and Gambacorti-Passerini C. ETNK1 mutations induce a mutator phenotype that can be reverted with phosphoethanolamine. Nat Commun. 2020;11(1):5938.doi: 10.1038/s41467-020-19721-w


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gambacorti-Passerini, Carlo 1957 births Italian oncologists Living people Academic staff of the University of Milano-Bicocca