Fondazione Gianni Benzi has always addressed particular attention to the study of chronic neuropathies: besides supporting research projects with grants and scholarships, the Foundation sponsored a pilot study for the implementation of a Registry of Neuropathies and participates in the project GAPP (GAbapentin in Paediatric Pain), the first European project to study a drug for the treatment of chronic pain in children.

In 2013, Fondazione Gianni Benzi assigned a research grant to study the peripheral neuropathy induced by the anticancer drug paclitaxel. The research project has been recently started in the Unit of the Experimental Neurology of the Department of Surgery and Translational Medicine of the University of Milano Bicocca.

Professor Guido Cavaletti, director of the Unit, pointed out that the Chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN) is a very relevant problem for patients affected by cancer, since it determines the onset of serious symptoms (insensitivity, formication, postural instability, pain in limbs) compromising the quality of life.

To understand the mechanisms underlying the onset of CIPN, studies conducted both on cells and animal models are necessary. The protocols of these studies have to follow defined ethical principles and “Good Laboratory Practice” (GLP) to grant the reliability of the results.

The studies conducted by Professor Cavaletti started in the 90s, with the reproduction, for the first time at international level, of a model of peripheral toxicity induced by cisplatin, a chemotherapic drug very efficacious, but also very toxic. These studies demonstrated that some modes of treatment are more harmful than other and allowed to target therapies toward less toxic protocols for patients.

The research project supported by Fondazione Gianni Benzi is conducted by Dr. Alessia Chiorazzi. It investigates in an animal model the peripheral neuropathy induced by paclitaxel, a drug used for the therapy of several cancers. Experiments on cells representing the starting point for in vivo studies are ongoing. In the future, studies to test if the anticancer activity of paclitaxel is altered by drugs used for the treatment of the neuropathy are also planned.

The final objective of this study- Professor Cavaletti concludes – is to provide to oncologists all the instruments useful for a better management of the anticancer therapy, also through the reduction of its neurotoxicity.

Further results achieved in this project will be published on the website of Fondazione Gianni Benzi.