Angelo Di Leo, MD, PhD

2007-2008 BCRF Project:
This project aims at improving the chance of finding a cure for breast cancer patients by investigating an innovative technology that isolates breast tumor cells from the blood of breast cancer patients. Using special equipment, breast tumor cells are isolated from a conventional blood sample, collected, and analysed in the laboratory by means of sophisticated techniques. Thanks to this new technology, Dr. Di Leo and his team hope that in the near future it will be possible to detect recurrent cancers earlier than we currently do using the standard technologies.

In addition, the researchers are performing specific laboratory analyses on tumor cells isolated from the blood of these patients which will hopefully allow them to select the best therapy for each individual patient. This research is ongoing in Italy at the Sandro Pitigliani Medical Oncology Unit of the Istituto Toscano Tumori, Prato. More than 300 hundred patients are participating in this research project, for which first results are anticipated by the end of 2009.

Mid-Year Progress Report:
In the last year Dr. Di Leo has been collecting blood samples from almost 100 women with breast cancer and has shown that tumor cells are found in the blood samples from 63 percent of them. The researchers already know from the work done by other groups that a large number of tumor cells detected in the blood (more than 5 cells per sample) indicates that the disease is aggressive. During the course of 2008, they will concentrate on three different clinical studies that will allow them to understand if tumor cells can also be useful in selecting the most effective individual therapies. The researchers are confident that by the end of 2009 they will have the first results from the ongoing project. In the meantime, they will present data showing the feasibility of their strategy at the next European Breast Cancer Conference that will be held in Berlin (Germany) in April 2008.

Bio:
Angelo Di Leo is currently Head of the Sandro Pitigliani Medical Oncology Unit, and Chair of the Oncology Department, at the Hospital of Prato, Tuscany Cancer Institute, Italy, a position which he took up in September 2003. The center is affiliated to the International Breast Cancer Study Group (IBCSG).

Dr Di Leo graduated in Medicine and Surgery at the University of Palermo (Italy) in 1988, received his postgraduate diploma in Medical Oncology from the University of Pavia (Italy) in 1992 and in 1996, received his European certification in Medical Oncology, which was issued by the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO). Dr. Di Leo received his training at the National Cancer Institute in Milan, where he worked for seven years until 1996. From 1996 to 2003 he worked at the Chemotherapy Unit of the Jules Bordet Institute in Brussels, where in 2000 he was appointed Associate Director and Medical Director of the BREAST. Dr. Di Leo was also Associate Member of the Oncology course teaching faculty at the Free University of Brussels.

Dr. Di Leo's main field of research is breast cancer and he has been involved in the coordination of a number of international, pivotal Phase III trials designed to evaluate the efficacy of new adjuvant therapies for breast cancer. Dr. Di Leo is also largely involved in the evaluation of molecular markers with potential predictive value in the treatment of breast cancer patients. Dr. Di Leo is a member of the Early Breast Cancer Trialists' Cooperative Group (EBCTCG) steering committee and a member of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) grants selection committee. Dr. Di Leo is the author of several articles that have been published in peer-reviewed international journals and has lectured extensively at national and international meetings.