Glioblastoma

High-grade gliomas, particularly glioblastoma, represent one of the greatest therapeutic challenges in oncology, characterized by strong resistance to conventional treatments and immunotherapies and an extremely poor survival rate. We investigate the biological mechanisms driving these tumors with the goal of developing a new generation of precision therapies.

We have identified galectin-1 (Gal-1) and galectin-3 (Gal-3) as key regulators of the cellular programs that enable tumor progression. Gal-1 not only promotes glioblastoma cell proliferation, survival, and invasion, but also selectively modulates angiogenesis and tumor metabolism and reprograms microglia and tumor-associated macrophages into immunosuppressive agents that protect the tumor.

Our mission is to translate this fundamental knowledge into therapeutic innovations that can dramatically improve survival and quality of life for both adult and pediatric patients affected by these tumors.