Agenda

Dr. Sara Linciano has been awarded with the prestigious “Post Doctoral Fellowship 2026 Experimental” scholarship from the Fondazione Veronesi. For years, this foundation has invested in enabling high-level research in Italy for the prevention, diagnosis, and cure of cancer.

Sara will dedicate the next year to an ambitious project targeting Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer (CRPC). Unfortunately, this is a very aggressive form of tumor and represents the second leading cause of cancer death in men. Currently, the most advanced therapies function like ‘smart bullets’: they seek a specific protein on the surface of tumor cells, called Prostate-Specific Membrane Antigen, or simply PSMA, and strike it with precise radiation to destroy the tumor.

However, there is an obstacle that makes current treatments risky. Our body contains a healthy protein, called Glutamate Carboxypeptidase III (GCPIII), which is very similar to the PSMA produced by tumor cells. We can imagine them as two ‘twins’ that are difficult to distinguish. Current drugs often get confused: instead of hitting only the cancer, they also attack healthy organs where the twin protein GCPIII is present, causing toxicity and severe side effects for the patient.

Sara's project, titled “Development of macrocyclic peptide-based radioligands against PSMA with reduced toxicity”, aims to resolve this recognition error. Working at the European Center for Living Technology (ECLT) and the Department of Molecular Sciences and Nanosystems (DSMN) under the guidance of Prof. Alessandro Angelini, Sara will develop a new class of special molecules called macrocyclic peptides. This new type of molecules, recently developed in Prof. Alessandro Angelini's laboratory (see news https://www.unive.it/web/it/15165/articolo/7116), combines the best of two worlds: they have the surgical precision of antibodies (they can perfectly distinguish the tumor from healthy tissue) and the small size of classic chemical molecules (they penetrate tissues well and are quickly eliminated by the body without accumulating where they shouldn’t).

This research does not happen in isolation. It is the result of a powerful team effort that unites the molecular bioengineering of Ca' Foscari University and the advanced nuclear technology of the Radionuclides and Molecular Imaging Laboratory (LARIM), an infrastructure of excellence born from the synergy between the Veneto Institute of Oncology (IOV-IRCCS) and the Legnaro National Laboratories of the National Institute for Nuclear Physics (INFN). LARIM is a structure of excellence, unique in Italy and authorized by the Ministry to produce and manipulate these types of molecules for medical and research use.

The final goal is to develop a “dual-action” drug (diagnosis + therapy = theranostics). The new molecules can be used first to ‘see’ the tumor with precise tests (PET/SPECT) and then to ‘cure’ it by carrying radioactivity only to the diseased cells. The result? Oncological treatments that are more effective and safer than current ones, while simultaneously guaranteeing greater accessibility for all.