ISPRO - Istituto per lo Studio, la Prevenzione e la Rete Oncologica
The Istituto per lo Studio, la Prevenzione e la Rete Oncologica (ISPRO) is a body of the Regional Health Service whose purpose is to promote, measure and study primary, secondary and tertiary actions for cancer prevention and to organize and coordinate, in synergy with other bodies of the regional health service, prevention, diagnosis, treatment and research in the field of oncology.
Inside ISPRO, the Core Research Laboratory operates, through different Units located in Florence, Siena and Pisa, with the task of carrying out basic research on cancer and in particular on the molecular mechanisms that are at its origins, creating synergies within the regional oncology network. In particular, the "Signal Transduction" Unit is located in Siena and its interests are focused on understanding the molecular mechanisms regulating cell growth and transformation, mediated by protein kinases activated by mitogens (MAPK) and in the development of innovative therapeutic and diagnostic approaches to cancer, through the use of assembled nano-carriers able to specifically target cancer cells.