The impact of cellular metabolism on the malignant evolution of pancreatic cancer and the decoding of mechanisms underlying cancer cachexia are the focus of the research projects led by VIMM Principal Investigators Alessandro Carrer and Marco Sandri, who have been awarded Fondazione AIRC’s 2024 “Investigator Grant (IG)” for cancer research.
Specifically, Carrer’s project aims to develop more precise and targeted strategies — including the definition of specific dietary regimens — to prevent the onset of pancreatic cancer, a disease that remains challenging to treat.
“In particular, we aim to understand how metabolism
can influence the tumor transformation of these lesions and therefore the onset of the disease itself. As part of the study, we will also explore more precise and targeted preventive interventions, including specific diets,” explained Carrer.
Marco Sandri’s research project, on the other hand, focuses on developing a new RNA-based drug capable of blocking the onset of cancer cachexia — the severe loss of muscle mass and strength caused by tumor growth, which is responsible for the death of about one-third of cancer patients.
“The aim of the project is to understand the mechanisms responsible for cancer cachexia in order to develop a new RNA drug capable of improving and extending the life expectancy of cancer patients,” Sandri stated.
The grants awarded are part of the annual funding program that Fondazione AIRC dedicates to multi-year cancer research projects,
selected through an international peer-review process.
With these new grants — which add to several previously funded initiatives — the number of AIRC-supported projects at VIMM rises to seven, for a total amount of €1,273,000 in 2025.
In addition to the Investigator Grants awarded to Marco Sandri and Alessandro Carrer under the latest call, the research projects of Francesco Piazza and Renato Zambello are entering their second year of funding, those of Bert Blaauw and Luca Scorrano their third year, and that of Denis Martinvalet its fourth year.
