When the procedures for submitting tax returns began, ENEA decided to use the funds of the 5 per thousand for studies conducted by young researchers of the Agency on new "vegetable" vaccines against cancer of the uterus neck and on new therapeutic strategies for the treatment of brain tumors in childhood.
“The fight against cancer – declares the ENEA researcher Carmela Marino, which coordinates these projects – cannot ignore two fundamental factors: the need for new technologies that allow early and non-invasive diagnosis and that of identifying increasingly 'personalised', targeted and effective therapies”.
The research conducted by Silvia Massa of ENEA makes it possible to develop a low-cost therapeutic vaccine against the tobacco plant cervical cancer, with the advantage of not using human pathogens. This pathology, caused by the human papilloma virus (HPV) mainly transmitted sexually, is the fourth most frequent type of cancer in the female population: in Italy it is estimated to affect around 3.500 women a year, while in 2012 alone it caused 266 deaths all over the world. Two prophylactic vaccines to prevent the disease have been available for some years against HPV, but they are only effective against 4 strains of the virus: this makes it necessary to develop new therapeutic vaccines capable of curing the disease.
“We are studying how to exploit some vegetable proteins to improve cancer vaccines – explains Silvia Massa. These proteins could be used to make the immune system better recognize and eliminate HPV-infected cells."
The research conceived by Mirella Tanori of ENEA aims instead to find new therapeutic strategies for the treatment of medulloblastoma, a malignant brain tumor that in 80% of cases occurs under 14 years of age with an incidence of about 1/200.000. Conventional therapy consists of surgical excision followed by chemotherapy and radiation therapy, often involving severe neurocognitive deficiencies. The ENEA project aims to study new strategies to make medulloblastoma more treatable with radiotherapy, using cancer stem cells as a target.
“Cancer stem cells – explains Mirella Tanori – represent an endless reserve for the maintenance and progression of the tumor. They could also be responsible for the failure of conventional therapy, as these cells possess characteristics that make them resistant to treatments. Hence the need to use new technologies that induce the differentiation of cancer stem cells to make them more sensitive to radiotherapy treatment”.
The 5 per thousand is not an extra tax, but represents the possibility of helping scientific research "at no cost to the taxpayer", with a small share of the income tax. To make the donation, just sign the box for funding scientific research on tax return models for natural persons and indicate the ENEA tax code: 01320740580.
