Giancarlo Pruneri, MD

Head, Department of Pathology, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale Tumori, Milan; Full Professor of Pathology, University of Milan, School of Medicine; and President, Euro-Asian Mastology Association (EURAMA)

Education, license and certifications

1992: MD degree, University of Milan
1996: Specialization in Pathology, University of Milan

Positions

2021: Director Speciality School of Anatomy, University of Milan
2017: Director Division of Pathology Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, Milan
2015-2017: Director, Unit of Biobank for Translational Medicine (B4MED)
2015: Associate Professor in Pathology
2015: Chair, Translational Research Working Group (IBCSG)
2012-2015: Senior Vice Director, Division of Pathology, European Institute of Oncology Milan, Italy
2007-2012: Vice Director, Division of Pathology, European Institute of Oncology Milan, Italy
2005-2013: Assistant Professor in Pathology, University of Milan, School of Medicine.
2003-2015: Active member, International Extranodal Lymphoma Study Group.
2003-2007: Senior assistant, Division of Pathology, European Institute of Oncology Milan, Italy
1999-2003: Assistant, Division of Pathology, European Institute of Oncology and University of Milan School of Medicine, Milan, Italy
1996-1999: Research fellow, Institute of Pathology, University of Milan

Research Support

Prof. Pruneri has been recipient of a number of different national and international grants, including Grant Giovani Ricercatori “The role of Polycomb group proteins in oncogenesys and cell reprogramming. Applications in cancer therapy and regenerative medicine – 2009”), Transcan (“CD3 and CD20 lymphocytes infiltration predict chemosensitivity in patients with triple negative breast cancer (UGI1) – 2013”), Avon (Identificazione e caratterizzazione clinica e molecolare di una popolazione di donne affette da carcinoma della mammella o dell’ovaio a rischio per successivo o concomitante carcinoma dell’ovaio o della mammella.-2016) and Associazione Italiana per la Ricerca sul Cancro (AIRC) (“Unveiling potentially actionable mechanisms of acquired endocrine resistance in breast cancer patients” - 2016).

He is also a PI of a unit for the following Grant: AIRC 5x1000 2016 title “Clinical validation of a stem cell-based prognostic tool, StemPrintER, for the personalized management of breast cancer”.

Contribution to Science

After his pioneering studies on the prevalence and clinical relevance of D-type cyclins in laryngeal cancer (Pruneri, J Clin Oncol, 1999), he focused on the role of angiogenesis in multiple myeloma (Pruneri, Am J Pathol, 2000) and other hemopoietic diseases (Pruneri, Br J Cancer, 1999). After moving to the European Institute of Oncology, he actively participated in developing the sentinel node technique for breast cancer patients, perfectioning a unique method for its analysis that allows surgeons to receive complete information on sentinel node status intraoperatively (Viale, Cancer, 2005; Colleoni, JCO, 2005). Since then, he dedicated to translational analysis of breast cancer (Korde, JCO, 2010), although continuing to be involved in research projects in lymphoma/leukemia, as testified by his studies of NPM gene alterations in acute myeloid leukemia (Martinelli, Blood, 2011; Colombo, Cancer Res, 2006) and clinico-pathological studies in non-Hodgkin lymphomas, especially of extranodal origin (Martinelli, Ann Oncol, 2009; Adam, Br J Haematol, 2014), on behalf of the International Lymphoma Study Group, chaired by Prof. Cavalli, whose he is an active member since 2003. In 2013, he joined the International Breast Cancer Study Group, led by Prof. Goldhirsch, where he was appointed as Chair of the Translational Research Working Group, that is dedicated to initiate, foster and develop translational research in tissues from IBCSG clinical trial, as the BIG1-98 and, more recently, SOFT and TEXT (Pagani, NEJM, 2015). He took an active role in designing international, phase III randomized clinical trials, as the ALTTO trial comparing Herceptin and Lapatinib in Her-2 positive breast cancer patients, In collaboration with Prof. Viale and his lab “Pathology for clinical trials”, he has been responsible for the central pathology review of international clinical trials, including BIG1-98, ALTTO and MINDACT. He has been involved in assessing meaningful biological end-points in phase I and especially phase 0 trials (Gandini, Ann Oncol, 2014), as testified by the seminal clinical study assessing the biological activity of window of opportunity delivering of metformin in breast cancer patients (Bonanni, JCO, 2013). He recently dedicated to pre-invasive breast lesions, investigating biological predictors of risk of relapse in ductal carcinoma in situ patients (Lazzeroni, Br J cancer, 2013) as well as to the role of immunology in breast cancer (Pruneri, Ann Oncol, 2016). In 2015, he joined the International TILs Working Group, that recently issued guidelines for assessing the prognostic relevance of intra-tumor lymphocytes in different tumor types (Salgado, Ann Oncol, 2015). Convinced that only a proactive teamwork may lead to clinically meaningful, practice-changing data, he recently participated to an international study firstly investigating 360 potentially actionable gene mutations and genome-wide copy number aberrations in lobular cancer (Desmedt, J Clin Oncol, 2016). His research activity has been presented in several international meetings and is documented in more than 230 full papers, accounting for an impact factor score higher than 1000, a H-index of 45 and an average citation per item of 20.13 (Web of Science^TM). He is serving as Specialty Editor of the journal The Breast and as a Reviewer for many top-ranked medical journals, including Journal of Clinical Oncology, British Journal of Cancer, BMC, Oncotarget and Blood, among others. that recently issued guidelines for assessing the prognostic relevance of intra-tumor lymphocytes in different tumor types (Salgado, Ann Oncol, 2015). He is serving as Specialty Editor of the journal The Breast and as a Reviewer for many top-ranked medical journals, including Journal of Clinical Oncology, British Journal of Cancer, BMC, Oncotarget and Blood, among others.

Updated: November 2021