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Background: The deeper knowledge of non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) biology and the discovery of driver molecular alterations have opened the era of precision medicine in lung oncology, thus significantly revolutionizing the diagnostic and therapeutic approach to NSCLC. In Italy, however, molecular assessment remains heterogeneous across the country, and numbers of patients accessing personalized treatments remain relatively low. Nationwide programs have demonstrated that the creation of consortia represent a successful strategy to increase the number of patients with a molecular classification. Patients and Methods: The Alliance Against Cancer (ACC), a network of 25 Italian Research Institutes, has developed a targeted sequencing panel for the detection of genomic alterations in 182 genes in patients with a diagnosis of NSCLC (ACC lung panel). One thousand metastatic NSCLC patients will be enrolled onto a prospective trial designed to measure the sensitivity and specificity of the ACC lung panel as a tool for molecular screening compared to standard methods. Results and Conclusion: The ongoing trial is part of a nationwide strategy of ACC to develop infrastructures and improve competences to make the Italian research institutes independent for genomic profiling of cancer patients.

Multiple myeloma develops primarily inside the bone marrow microenvironment, that confers pro-survival signals and drug resistance. 3D cultures that reproduce multiple myeloma-bone marrow interactions are needed to fully investigate multiple myeloma pathogenesis and response to drugs. To this purpose, we exploited the 3D Rotary Cell Culture System bioreactor technology for myelomabone marrow co-cultures in gelatin scaffolds. The model was validated with myeloma cell lines that, as assessed by histochemical and electronmicroscopic analyses, engaged contacts with stromal cells and endothelial cells. Consistently, pro-survival signaling and also cell adhesionmediated drug resistance were significantly higher in 3D than in 2D parallel co-cultures. The contribution of the VLA-4/VCAM1 pathway to resistance to bortezomib was modeled by the use of VCAM1 transfectants. Soluble factor-mediated drug resistance could be also demonstrated in both 2D and 3D co-cultures. The system was then successfully applied to co-cultures of primary myeloma cells-primary myeloma bone marrow stromal cells from patients and endothelial cells, allowing the development of functional myeloma-stroma interactions and MM cell long-term survival. Significantly, genomic analysis performed in a highrisk myeloma patient demonstrated that culture in bioreactor paralleled the expansion of the clone that ultimately dominated in vivo. Finally, the impact of bortezomib on myeloma cells and on specialized functions of the microenvironment could be evaluated. Our findings indicate that 3D dynamic culture of reconstructed human multiple myeloma microenvironments in bioreactor may represent a useful platform for drug testing and for studying tumor-stroma molecular interactions.

Malignant Mesothelioma is a highly aggressive cancer, which is difficult to diagnose and treat. Here we describe the molecular, cellular and morphological characterization of a syngeneic system consisting of murine AB1, AB12 and AB22 mesothelioma cells injected in immunocompetent BALB/c mice, which allows the study of the interplay of tumor cells with the immune system. Murine mesothelioma cells, like human ones, respond to exogenous High Mobility Group Box 1 protein, a Damage-Associated Molecular Pattern that acts as a chemoattractant for leukocytes and as a proinflammatory mediator. The tumors derived from AB cells are morphologically and histologically similar to human MM tumors, and respond to treatments used for MM patients. Our system largely recapitulates human mesothelioma, and we advocate its use for the study of MM development and treatment.