Paola Allavena

Role: Head of Lab
Unit: Cellular Immunology Lab
Hospital: Humanitas Clinical and Research Center, Italy

The main research lines relate to the interaction between innate immune cells, in particular tumor-associated macrophages (TAM) and cancer cells. She actively contributed to understand the links between chronic inflammation and tumor progression by studying the expression and modulation of cytokines and chemokines in the tumor micro-environment, particularly in colorectal and pancreatic neoplasia. Her group contributed to the characterization of TAM in human tumors, defining their pro-tumoral activities, the genomic profile and the expression of specific markers. These studies led to consider therapeutic strategies aimed at reducing the macrophage content of tumors. Among these, the use of a new anti-neoplastic compound that is selectively cytotoxic for monocytes and macrophages. Among the inflammatory mediators that may contribute to tumor progression and metastatic spread, mostly studied are the chemokines and their receptors, particularly in colorectal and pancreatic neoplasia