Esophageal cancer is the seventh most common cancer worldwide accounting for over 570,000 new cases in 2018 and ranks sixth in overall cancer-related mortality with over half million deaths.
Gastric carcinoma is the fourth most common malignancy worldwide and remains the second cause of death of all malignancies worldwide.
Outcome still is dismal despite diagnostic and treatment improvements, with a 5-year survival rate of only 10-30 %. Various multimodality therapies are available, but to date, surgery remains the best curative approach.
Our group have a thirty-year experience in treating esophagogastric cancer with research interests in multimodality treatments, surgical treatments and techniques and, in recent years, in minimally invasive surgery and translational research.

Clinical Research:

Multimodal treatment of esophageal and gastric cancer.
Staging and treatment of early esophago-gastric cancer.
Staging and treatment of oligometastatic esophageal and gastric cancer.
Minimally invasive and robotic esophagectomy and gastrectomy for cancer.

Basic and Translational Research:

Cancer Cachexia.
Ageing and Sarcopenia.

Ongoing Studies:

The PERSEO study: Perioperative FLOT versus Extended FLOT plus Surgery in Oligometastatic Esophago-gastric Cancer.
Multicenter study Upfront Surgery versus NeoAdjuvant Chemotherapy followed by surgery for resectable Advanced Gastric Cancer (SNAC study). An observational retrospective multicenter study with matched treatment comparison.
Multicenter study NEOFRAIL (Impact of chemotherapy-induced frailty on short- and long-term outcomes in gastricn cancer patients undergoing gastrectomy).
Multicenter study  BIOPRO (Histological concordance between biopsies and the surgical specimen: do we need to standardize the biopsy protocol?).
Study of the pathogenetic mechanisms of neoplastic cachexia in different types of cancer.
Study of the mechanisms underlying the loss of muscle mass in aging, disuse and denervation. Role of physical and rehabilitative exercise in the recovery of mass, mobility and function in the elderly and in cancer patients.

Publications

1. Capovilla G, Pierobon ES, Moletta L, Scarton A, Sciuto ME, Tagkalos E, Uzun E, De Pasqual CA, Turolo C, Zanchettin G, Riccio F, Provenzano L, Salvador R, Berlth F, Weindelmayer J, Lonardi S, Galuppo S, Giacopuzzi S, De Manzoni G, Grimminger P, Valmasoni M. Prognostic Value of Tumor Regression Grade After Chemotherapy Versus Chemoradiotherapy in Patients Undergoing Neoadjuvant Treatment for Locally Advanced Esophageal Adenocarcinoma. Ann Surg Oncol. 2025 May 5. doi: 10.1245/s10434-025-17264-2. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 40323553.
2. Faron M, Cheugoua-Zanetsie M, Tierney J, Thirion P, Nankivell M, Winter K, Yang H, Shapiro J, Vernerey D, Smithers BM, Walsh T, Piessen G, Nilsson M, Boonstra J, Ychou M, Law S, Cunningham D, de Vathaire F, Stahl M, Urba S, Valmasoni M, Williaume D, Thomas J, Lordick F, Tepper J, Roth J, Gebski V, Burmeister B, Paoletti X, van Sandick J, Fu J, Pignon JP, Ducreux M, Michiels S; MANATEC-02 Collaborative Group. Individual  articipant Data Network Meta-Analysis of Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy or Chemoradiotherapy in Esophageal or Gastroesophageal Junction Carcinoma. J Clin Oncol. 2023 Oct 1;41(28):4535-4547. doi: 10.1200/JCO.22.02279. Epub 2023 Jul 12. PMID: 37467395; PMCID: PMC10553121.
3. Pierobon ES, Capovilla G, Moletta L, De Pasqual AL, Fornasier C, Salvador R, Zanchettin G, Lonardi S, Galuppo S, Hadzijusufovic E, Grimminger PP, Stocchero M, Costantini M, Merigliano S, Valmasoni M. Multimodal treatment of radiation-induced esophageal cancer: Results of a case-matched comparative study from a single center. Int J Surg. 2022 Mar;99:106268. doi: 10.1016/j.ijsu.2022.106268. Epub 2022 Feb 18. PMID: 35183734.
4. Sartori R, Hagg A, Zampieri S, Armani A, Winbanks CE, Viana LR, Haidar M, Watt KI, Qian H, Pezzini C, Zanganeh P, Turner BJ, Larsson A, Zanchettin G, Pierobon ES, Moletta L, Valmasoni M, Ponzoni A, Attar S, Da Dalt G, Sperti C, Kustermann M, Thomson RE, Larsson L, Loveland KL, Costelli P, Megighian A, Merigliano S, Penna F, Gregorevic P, Sandri M. Perturbed BMP signaling and denervation promote muscle wasting in cancer cachexia. Sci Transl Med. 2021 Aug 4;13(605):eaay9592. doi: 10.1126/scitranslmed.aay9592. Erratum in: Sci Transl Med. 2024 Jan 24;16(731):eadn3942. doi: 10.1126/scitranslmed.adn3942. PMID: 34349036.
5. Capovilla G, Moletta L, Pierobon ES, Salvador R, Provenzano L, Zanchettin G, Costantini M, Merigliano S, Valmasoni M. Optimal Treatment of cT2N0 Esophageal Carcinoma: Is Upfront Surgery Really the Way? Ann Surg Oncol. 2021 Dec;28(13):8387-8397. doi: 10.1245/s10434-021-10194-9. Epub 2021 Jun 17. PMID: 34142286.89.
6. Zampieri S, Sandri M, Cheatwood JL, Balaraman RP, Anderson LB, Cobb BA, Latour CD, Hockerman GH, Kern H, Sartori R, Ravara B, Merigliano S, Da Dalt G, Davie JK, Kohli P, Pond AL. The ERG1A K+ Channel Is More Abundant in Rectus abdominis Muscle from Cancer Patients Than that from Healthy Humans. Diagnostics 2021; 11:1879.  doi: 10.3390/diagnostics11101879.
7. Monti E, Sarto F, Sartori R, Zanchettin G, Kern H, Lofler S, Narici, MV, *Zampieri S. C-Terminal Agrin Fragment as a biomarker of muscle wasting and weakness: a narrative review. J Cachexia Sarcopenia Muscle. 2023; 14: 730-744. doi: 10.1002/jcsm.13189. Epub 2023 Feb 11.

People involved

Michele Valmasoni (Associate Professor)
Renato Salvador (Associate Professor)
Lucia Moletta (Assistant Professor)
Sandra Zampieri (Assistant Professor)
Stefano Merigliano (Full Professor – Senior Scholar)

Group members

Marco Sandri (Full Professor)
Elisa Sefora Pierobon (Attending Surgeon)
Gianpietro Zanchettin (Attending Surgeon)
Giovanni Capovilla (Attending Surgeon)
Luca Provenzano (Attending Surgeon)
Giulia Nezi (Attending Surgeon)
Sara Lonardi (Attending Oncologist)
Sabina Murgioni (Attending Oncologist)
Sara Galuppo (Attending Radiation Oncologist)
Roberta Sartori (Associate Professor)