Hypoxia is a common feature of solid tumors, due to the rapid growth of the tumor that exceeds the oxygen supply, and impaired vascular network for the formation of abnormal blood vessels supplying the tumor. During tumor development and progression, this hypoxic microenvironment can activate angiogenesis, thus increasing tumor survival, invasiveness, distant metastasis and hamper the therapeutic response.

Dr. Stefania Forciniti, INTERCELLMED-ERC research fellow at the CNR-Nanotec of Lecce (IT) in the group of Dr. Loretta L. del Mercato, won a 3-month short-term mobility funded by AIRC at the Research Group of 3B, I3Bs – Research Institute on Biomaterials, Biodegradables and Biomimicry, University of Minho (PG), in the group of Prof. Miguel Oliveira for the project “Characterization and validation of oxygen sensing platforms for monitoring in real-time in vitro tumor hypoxia”. Dr. Stefania Forciniti will apply ratiometric optical oxygen sensors, developed at CNR-Nanotec, in patient-derived in vitro cancer models to monitor oxygen concentrations in real time and to study how different tumor cells respond to pharmacological stress.

These studies are oriented towards precision medicine which leads to the choice of the right personalized therapy for each individual patient.