• 3D tumor models
• adenocarcinoma naso-sinusale di tipo intestinale
• intestinal type adenocarcinoma
• melanoma
• modelli tumorali 3D
• nasal tumors
• pva
• scaffold
• tumori nasali

Tumors of nasal cavity and paranasal sinuses are rare neoplasms that represent approximately 3%-5% of all head and neck cancers. This anatomical region harbours a great histological diversity of chancer types, most of them characterized by aggressive biological behavior. Their low incidence rate in the general population and the overlap of histological and molecular characteristics make an accurate classification of this type of neoplasms very difficult thus hampering a correct diagnosis. These tumors are etiologically associated with professional exposure to dust particles generated by the manufacturing of wood and leather and by other industrial compounds and are officially recognized as an occupational disease. A better characterization and classification of these tumors is therefore important to establish a correct diagnosis and a personalized therapeutic approach, which could improve the still low overall survival, as it ranges between 30%-50% in 5 years.
This Master Thesis is performed in the framework of the ADAPTA project (“Sinonasal cancer: In-depth genetic analysis of patients for personalized treatment and disease monitoring”), which aims to identify clinically actionable genetic alterations and test the effects of candidate drugs using preclinical models of sinonasal cancer.
The aim of this study was to isolate cancer cells from the nasal compartment of patients affected by sinonasal cancers and to set up primary cell cultures. Starting from the explants of tumor tissue from patients operated on in the Otolaryngology Unit of the Cisanello hospital, three cell lines were obtained: intestinal-type adenocarcinoma (ITAC), sinonasal malignant melanoma and SMARCB1-deficient sinonasal carcinoma. These cell lines were characterized using immunofluorescence and immunohistochemistry techniques, searching for the specific known molecular markers. Finally, primary cells were cultured inside three-dimensional (3D) polymeric scaffolds based on polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) for the development of new 3D tumor models. Such 3D models, by recreating the tumor microenvironment more accurately than two-dimensional cultures, provide a valid platform for selecting the most effective drugs, targeted for the patient.