University of Naples Federico II
PhD Program in Molecular Medicine
Advanced Molecular Oncology course
Contact Information
Coordinator: Massimo Santoro
Office location: Torre Biologica, 2° floor
Office: 081-746-3037; Lab: 081-746-3056
E-mail: massimo.santoro@unina.it
Teaching Team
Francesca Carlomagno, persfra@tin.it
Sandro De Falco, IGB, Napoli, sandro.defalco@igb.cnr.it
Alfredo Fusco, alfusco@unina.it
Silvia Giordano, University Torino, silvia.giordano@ircc.it
Rosa Marina Melillo, rosmelil@unina.it
Massimo Santoro, massimo.santoro@unina.it
Course Information
Semester & year: winter 2012
Meeting location: Torre Biologica, 1° floor
Course Description
Lectures (about 75 min) on key aspects of biology and molecular basis of cancer including: role of protein kinases; altered
cell cycle control; inflammation and cancer; angiogenesis; miRNAs. General concepts, new developments, as well as key
experiments will be presented and discussed with the students.
Background Preparation
Students have to read relevant background material represented by reviews and relevant original research articles (that will
be made available to the students) for each class. In addition, proposed textbooks are:
The Biology of Cancer (Garland Science), Robert A Weinberg
The Genetic Basis of Human Cancer (McGraw-Hill), Bert Vogelstein, Kenneth Kinzler
Course Learning Outcomes
By taking this course students will be updated on cutting edge aspects of cancer initiation and progression as well as
molecular basis of targeted cancer therapy. They will be asked to attend courses and discuss critically with the speakers
concepts as well as paradigmatic experiments that will be presented. Students are expected to:
1. Learn basic concepts in mechanisms of cancer cell initiation and maintenance
2. Critically analyse research articles in the molecular oncology field
Schedule
Lecture
1
2
3
4
5
6
Date
Tue. 4/12/12
Wed. 5/12/12
Mon 10/12/12
Tue. 11/12/12
Wed. 12/12/12
Thur 13/12/12
Time
9.15-10.30 am
9.15-10.30 am
9.15-10.30 am
9.15-10.30 am
9.15-10.30 am
1.00-2.00 pm
Subject
Inflammation and cancer
Oncogenic protein kinases
Angiogenesis
Altered cell cycle control in cancer
Role of microRNA in cancer
MET oncogene
Speaker
RM Melillo
M Santoro
S De Falco
F Carlomagno
A Fusco
S Giordano
Selected Bibliography
F Carlomagno
 Massague’ J. G1 cell-cycle control and cancer. Nature. 2004 Nov 18;432(7015):298-306 Ciccia A, Elledge SJ. The
DNA damage response: making it safe to play with knives. Mol Cell. 2010 Oct 22;40(2):179-204.
 Burkhart DL, Sage J. Cellular mechanisms of tumour suppression by the retinoblastoma gene. Nat Rev Cancer.
2008 Sep;8(9):671-82.
 Brown CJ, Lain S, Verma CS, Fersht AR, Lane DP. Awakening guardian angels: drugging the p53 pathway. Nat
Rev Cancer. 2009 Dec;9(12):862-73.
 Gordon DJ, Resio B, Pellman D. Causes and consequences of aneuploidy incancer. Nat Rev Genet. 2012 Jan
24;13(3):189-203.
 Malumbres M, Barbacid M. Cell cycle, CDKs and cancer: a changing paradigm. Nat Rev Cancer. 2009
Mar;9(3):153-66.
 Jackson SP, Bartek J. The DNA-damage response in human biology and disease. Nature. 2009 Oct
22;461(7267):1071-8.
 Di Micco R, Fumagalli M, d'Adda di Fagagna F. Breaking news: high-speed race ends in arrest--how oncogenes
induce senescence. Trends Cell Biol. 2007 Nov;17(11):529-36.
 d'Adda di Fagagna F. Living on a break: cellular senescence as a DNA-damage response. Nat Rev Cancer. 2008
Jul;8(7):512-22.
 Campisi J, d'Adda di Fagagna F. Cellular senescence: when bad things happen to good cells. Nat Rev Mol Cell
Biol. 2007 Sep;8(9):729-40.
S De Falco
 Tugues S, Koch S, Gualandi L, Li X, Claesson-Welsh L. Vascular endothelial growth factors and receptors: antiangiogenic therapy in the treatment of cancer. Mol Aspects Med. 2011 Apr;32(2):88-111.
 Carmeliet P, Jain RK. Molecular mechanisms and clinical applications of angiogenesis. Nature. 2011 May
19;473(7347):298-307.
 Potente M, Gerhardt H, Carmeliet P. Basic and therapeutic aspects of angiogenesis. Cell. 2011 Sep 16;146(6):87387.
A Fusco
 Pallante P, Visone R, Croce CM, Fusco A. Deregulation of microRNA expression in follicular-cell-derived human
thyroid carcinomas. Endocr Relat Cancer. 2010 Jan 29;17(1):F91-104.
 Iorio MV, Croce CM. microRNA involvement in human cancer. Carcinogenesis. 2012 Jun;33(6):1126-33.
S Giordano
 Cepero V, Sierra JR, Corso S, Ghiso E, Casorzo L, Perera T, Comoglio PM, Giordano S. MET and KRAS gene
amplification mediates acquired resistance to MET tyrosine kinase inhibitors. Cancer Res. 2010 Oct 1;70(19):758090.
 Giordano S. Rilotumumab, a mAb against human hepatocyte growth factor for the treatment of cancer. Curr Opin
Mol Ther. 2009
 Migliore C, Petrelli A, Ghiso E, Corso S, Capparuccia L, Eramo A, Comoglio PM, Giordano S. MicroRNAs impair
MET-mediated invasive growth. Cancer Res. 2008 Dec 15;68(24):10128-36.
 Comoglio PM, Giordano S, Trusolino L. Drug development of MET inhibitors: targeting oncogene addiction and
expedience. Nat Rev Drug Discov. 2008 Jun;7(6):504-16. Review. PubMed PMID: 18511928.
RM Melillo
 Grivennikov SI, Greten FR, Karin M. Immunity, inflammation, and cancer. Cell. 2010 Mar 19;140(6):883-99.
 Tu S, Bhagat G, Cui G, Takaishi S, Kurt-Jones EA, Rickman B, Betz KS, Penz-Oesterreicher M, Bjorkdahl O, Fox
JG, Wang TC. Overexpression of interleukin-1beta induces gastric inflammation and cancer and mobilizes
myeloid-derived suppressor cells in mice. Cancer Cell. 2008
 Guerra C, Collado M, Navas C, Schuhmacher AJ, Hernández-Porras I, Cañamero M, Rodriguez-Justo M, Serrano
M, Barbacid M. Pancreatitis-Induced Inflammation
Contributes to Pancreatic Cancer by Inhibiting Oncogene-Induced Senescence. Cancer Cell. 2011 Jun
14;19(6):728-39.
M Santoro
 Zhang J, Yang PL, Gray NS. Targeting cancer with small molecule kinase inhibitors. Nat Rev Cancer. 2009
Jan;9(1):28-39.
 Cichowski K, JAnne PA. Drug discovery: inhibitors that activate. Nature. 2010 Mar 18;464(7287):358-9. Nov
4;14(5):408-19.
 Stites EC. The Response of Cancers to BRAF Inhibition Underscores the Importance of Cancer Systems Biology.
Sci Signal. 2012 Oct 16;5(246):pe46.
 Bernards R. A missing link in genotype-directed cancer therapy. Cell. 2012 Oct 26;151(3):465-8.