Descrizione:

The “Research in Nutrition and Metabolomics” Unit aims to integrate the epidemiological data on diet and cancer with metabolomics to improve the knowledge of cancer biological processes and promote the development of personalized treatments useful for prevention and clinical practice. The ssd includes a laboratory (NUMELAB) which has the appropriate equipment and expertise to perform analyzes in high-resolution mass spectrometry and immunometric assays on complex biological matrices.
The ssd also offers innovative applications of mass spectrometry-based breath analysis for a non-invasive early diagnosis of head/neck and breast cancers.
The research activity consists of:

• Prospective randomized clinical trials with biological bank of diet/lifestyle and/or metformin (or other drugs) to reduce the metabolic risk factors for cancer and to test their impact both on cancer incidence and recurrences. These clinical trials will allow the evaluation of preventive actions on specific cancer risk factors; 
• Design of "adjuvant" lifestyle treatments for the management of cancer and to improve the patient's quality of life;
• Mass spectrometry-based breath analysis for a non-invasive early diagnosis and assessment of the individual’s metabolic state;
• Collaboration with the clinical oncology for the development of omics analysis aimed at identifying new biomarkers, risk factors, metabolic pathways involved in the development and/or progression of cancer and/or response to treatments;
• Quantitative target analysis for validating or monitoring biomarkers and/or drugs;
• Development of software-assisted methods for omics analyses;
• Development of statistical methods for data extraction and analysis from large clinical studies.