The AIRC Foundation for cancer research has approved the “Iron-Sequestration as Adjuvant Against CRC Development” project coordinated by the Department of Experimental Medicine of the University of Salento and which will therefore start today, 1 January 2026. The project involves other important study centers in Italy and the United States and internationally renowned scientists such as Professor Maria Rescigno of the Humanitas University of Milan, Professor Pietro Campiglia of the University of Salerno, Professor Fabio Cominelli of Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio (USA) and Dr. Angelo Santino of CNR ISPA.
«Our project – explains Professor Marcello Chieppa, who teaches General Pathology at UniSalento and is the scientific coordinator of the work – has the ultimate aim of identifying innovative strategies for the prevention of colorectal cancer. In the last decade, numerous studies have highlighted a close relationship between the intestinal microbiota and the risk of colon cancer, demonstrating how the presence of some bacterial products promotes inflammation which, in predisposed subjects, causes the appearance of tumor lesions. Iron is an essential micronutrient for both the human body and the intestinal microbiota. Regulation of iron availability within the intestinal lumen can have a large impact on both the growth of the microbiota and the growth of tumor cells that require iron to proliferate. Together with our collaborators we will evaluate the possibility of using products of nutritional origin to sequester excess iron within the intestinal lumen in order to promote the growth of a “healthy microbiota” and prevent the appearance of the tumor. I want to thank – he concludes – my colleagues for the help and support received, essential to bring the project proposal to the end and obtain the support of the AIRC scientific committee. The trust of a foundation of such importance is a source of pride for me.”
AIRC financed the project with a budget of half a million euros which will also serve to recruit young talents to be trained at our University and with the contribution of the partners involved. The Department of Experimental Medicine, therefore, confirms itself as an excellence of UniSalento, capable of intercepting relevant funding and proposing and carrying forward research on crucial topics for the development of life-saving treatments.
