Daniela Brina honored with the SAKK/Astellas GU-Oncology Award 2023
Institute of Oncology Research
Dr. Daniela Brina, researcher in the Molecular Oncology Laboratory led by Prof. Andrea Alimonti, has been honored with the SAKK/Astellas GU-Oncology Award 2023, a prestigious award designed to support outstanding scientific achievements in the field of Genitourinary Cancers. The ceremony was held in Basel on 23 November.
The winning study, entitled “The Akt/mTOR and MNK/eIF4E pathways rewire the prostate cancer translatome to secrete HGF, SPP1 and BGN and recruit suppressive myeloid cells” demonstrates that targeting translation can prevent the recruitment of immunosuppressive myeloid cells, enhance the efficacy of immunotherapy and counteract the growth of prostate cancer. Thus, mRNA translation is a therapeutic vulnerability that can be exploited to design new therapeutic strategies for prostate cancer.
The study is published in Nature: https://www.nature.com/articles/s43018-023-00594-z
The prize, issued by the Swiss Group for Clinical Cancer Research (SAKK), in collaboration with the Swiss Congress of Oncology and Hematology (SOHC) with a value of CHF30’000.-, will be used to investigate further and understand the role of translational control in cancer and myeloid cells. The aim is to identify drivers of advanced prostate cancer progression. This project intends to contribute to developing novel therapeutic interventions for prostate cancer.
