Assistant Professor of Medical Oncology, Dipartimento Medico-Chirurgico di Internistica Clinica e Sperimentale "Flaviano Magrassi e A. Lanzara", Seconda Univesrità degli Studi di Napoli.

Research interests
This laboratory is concerned with the role of peptide growth factors of the epidermal growth factor family and of their specific receptors in the development and progression of human cancer. The group showed that the TGFa-EGFR autocrine pathway is a therapeutic target for the development of selective inhibitors such as anti-growth factor receptor monoclonal antibodies and small molecule inhibitors of EGFR tyrosine kinase activity. Ongoing research focuses on the integration of these novel anti-growth factor receptor drugs in the medical treatment of human cancer in order to develop novel, less toxic and more selective therapeutic strategies for cancer patients.

Selected publications
Ciardiello F, Caputo R, Bianco R, Damiano, V,
Pomatico G, Pepe S, Bianco AR, Agrawal S,
Mendelsohn J, Tortora G. Cooperative inhibition
of renal cancer growth by anti-EGF receptor
antibody and protein kinase A antisense
oligonucleotide. J Natl Cancer I 1998;90:1037-94.

Ciardiello F, Bianco R, Damiano V, De Lorenzo S,
Pepe S, De Placido S, Fan Z, Mendelsohn J, Bianco
AR, Tortora G. Antitumor activity of sequential
treatment with topotecan and anti-epidermal
growth factor receptor monoclonal antibody
C225. Clin Cancer Res 1999;5;909-16.

Ciardiello F, Caputo R, Bianco R, Damiano V,
Pomatico G, De Placido S, Bianco AR, Tortora G.
Anti-tumor effect and potentiation of cytotoxic
drugs activity in human cancer cells by ZD-1819.
Clin Cancer Res 2000;6:2053-63.

Ciardiello F, Tortora G. A novel approach in the
treatment of cancer: targeting the epidermal
growth factor receptor. Clin Can Res 2001;7:2958-
70.

Ciardiello F, Caputo F, Bianco R, Damiano V,
Fontanini G, Cuccato S, De Placido S, Bianco AR,
Tortora G. Inhibition of growth factor production
and angiogenesis in human cancer cells by
ZD1839 (Iressa), a selective EGFR tyrosine kinase
inhibitor. Clin Can Res 2001;7:1459-65.