A/Prof Orazio Vittorio’s grant is generously funded by the Melissa Lewis Foundation for the fourth year
He is the Head of the Metal Targeted Therapy & Immunology (MTTI) lab based at the University of New South Wales (UNSW Sydney).
A/Prof Orazio Vittorio completed his PhD in Oncology at the University of Pisa in February 2011, during which he was diagnosed with kidney cancer.
“I was lucky the tumour was found when it was small, so my chances of survival were good,” he says.
“It gave me more reasons to put all my efforts into cancer research. In 2011, I became a father and decided to focus my research in finding better cures for childhood tumours like neuroblastoma. Children are our future!”
Orazio’s research aims to understand the biology of aggressive childhood cancers so that he can develop more effective therapeutics and improve the quality of life and survival of children with cancer. He was the first scientist to discover the immunosuppressive effects of copper found in neuroblastoma and in high-grade gliomas.
Treating neuroblastoma
Neuronal tumours are the leading cause of disease-related death in children and are the second most diagnosed cancer in childhood.
Neuroblastoma is a rare and aggressive form of childhood cancer that is the most common solid tumour affecting children between the ages of 0-5. This devastating disease is often diagnosed at advanced stages, when survival is only 50%, making it difficult to treat despite gruelling, intensive therapies.
A/Prof Orazio Vittorio’s research
CAR-T cell therapy, a cutting-edge immunotherapy that uses genetically engineered immune cells to target and kill cancer cells, has shown promise. However, its effectiveness is limited by the tumour's ability to suppress the immune system.
A/Prof Orazio Vittorio’s project focuses on overcoming that challenge by reprogramming immune (or ‘myeloid’) cells called neutrophils, which play a key role in suppressing the immune system. He and his team recently discovered that manipulating copper levels (‘copper modulation’) in tumours can transform immune cells like neutrophils into cancer-fighting cells. These findings, published in the prestigious journal Nature Communications, suggest that copper can be used to alter the metabolism of neutrophils and modify its role in the tumour microenvironment to improve CAR-T therapy.
In this Cure Cancer-funded project, Orazio and his team will investigate how copper affects neutrophil behaviour by altering its metabolism and gene regulation, and thus reprogramming them into anti-cancer cells. By better understanding these processes, the team aims to enhance the effectiveness of CAR-T therapy in targeting neuroblastoma tumours.
Creating hope for childhood cancer patients
If successful, Orazio’s research will significantly improve the survival and quality of life of children living with neuroblastoma. It offers a novel approach to overcoming immune cell-induced immunosuppression in neuroblastoma and other solid tumours.
Since copper-based treatments and CAR-T cell therapy have already been trialled in clinical settings, this new treatment strategy could be rapidly adapted for use in hospitals. This research could also lead to new combination therapies that integrate copper modulation withy CAR-T cell therapy.
For families of children with neuroblastoma, every new discovery brings hope. This research represents not just scientific progress, but a chance for children to have the chance to grow up and live healthy lives.
The impact of funding on the future of childhood cancer research
Through the support he’s received from our generous donors since 2018, Orazio and his team are now working on clinical trials, also supported by Cure Cancer, for his previously-funded research on combining copper chelation therapy with other immunotherapies.