Rosa Bernardi

Molecular Oncology

 

bernardi.rosa@hsr.it

 

Neo-angiogenesis is the process of forming new capillaries from pre-existing blood vessels. While it is firmly established that neo-angiogenesis plays an important role in the development, progression and metastasis of solid tumors, accumulating evidence is recently suggesting that neo-angiogenesis may also play a role in the pathophysiology of hematological malignancies. This hypothesis rests mainly on clinical studies, which show that leukemia patients express high levels of pro-angiogenic factors and have increased angiogenesis in the bone marrow. However, these findings are mostly correlative: genetic proof that angiogenesis supports leukemogenesis is still lacking and the molecular mechanisms leading to angiogenesis in leukemia have not yet been established.

 

We are interested in better understanding causes and consequences of the expression of pro-angiogenic factors in leukemia. While performing these studies, we also aim at creating animal models that better mimic human leukemia and that will be utilized in pre-clinical studies to test the efficacy of anti-angiogenesis therapies for treating leukemia.

 

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