Salvatore Siena, MD

Salvatore is full professor of Medical Oncology and director of the School of Specialization in Medical Oncology at Università degli Studi di Milano (La Statale), Milan, Italy.

He is also Director of Niguarda Cancer Center, Department of Hematology Oncology and Molecular Medicine, and Falck Division of Medical Oncology at Grande Ospedale Metropolitano Niguarda, Milan, Italy.

He received a degree of doctor of Medicine and Surgery at Università degli Studi di Pavia, and post-doctoral training at Ospedale San Matteo, Pavia, I, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, and Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA. He had tenured positions from 184 to 1997 at Istituto Nazionale Tumori, Milan, I, from 1997 to 1988 at Istituto Clinico Humanitas, Milan, I, and from 1999 to present at Grande Ospedale Metropolitano Niguarda and Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, I.

He is committed to clinical care of persons with solid tumors and to research and development of novel therapies. Research programs comprise mostly phase I-II clinical studies focusing on all epithelial tumors and especially those of the digestive and respiratory organs. Results and discoveries are published in peer-reviewed journals as documented in https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/myncbi/1J3ipw9bcGD/bibliography/public/ accounting for 52876 citations and 92 hindex, according to Scopus.

His research is supported by competitive grants awarded by European Community, Fondazione AIRC (Associazione Italiana Ricerca Cancro), Fondazione Oncologia Niguarda, Ministero Salute, and Fondazione Regionale Ricerca Biomedica of Regione Lombardia.

Advances and discoveries with impact on clinical practice encompass: a) mobilization and transplantation of blood stem cells (1989); b) role of RAS and BRAF mutations for EGFR-targeted therapies (2007), and development of treatments for colorectal cancer and other malignancies such as therapies that target EGFR, HER2, BRAF, ROS1, and NTRK actionable alterations (from 2004 to present) and prime colorectal cancers primarily resistant to become susceptible to immunotherapy (2022). Principal investigator or co-investigator of studies leading to registration and clinical practice guidelines of following therapies: cyclophosphamide and cytokines for mobilization and transplantation of blood stem cells, 1989; darbepoetin for solid tumors, 2002; peg-filgrastim for solid tumors, 2003; cetuximab for colorectal cancer, 2004; panitumumab for colorectal cancer, 2007; denosumab for solid tumors, 2010; regorafenib for colorectal cancer, 2015; sorafenib for thyroid cancer, 2014; nab-paclitaxel for pancreas cancer, 2013; trastuzumab and lapatinib (2015( anf tucatinib (2022) doublets for colorectal cancer; trifluridine tipiracil for colorectal cancer, 2017; encorafenib and cetuximab doublet for colorectal cancer, 2019; entrectinib for NTRK- and ROS1-fusion positive solid tumors, 2019; trastuzumab deruxtecan for colorectal cancer, 2022; temozolomide for induction of immune susceptibility of MMRproficient/ microsatellite stable colorectal cancer, 2022. Since 2015 Thomson Reuters/Clarivate Analytics recognizes Salvatore Siena among the World’s Most Influential Scietific Minds and Highly Cited Researchers.

He serves as a member of the scientific advisory board Fondazione Istituto Nazionale Genetica Molecolare (INGM), of the Gastro-Intestinal Tumors Faculty Group of European Society Medical Oncology (ESMO), and as president of Fondazione Oncologia Niguarda.

In 2020 was awarded the Premio FIRC Guido Venosta presented by Sergio Mattarella, President of Repubblica Italiana, with the following motivation “per aver realizzato attraverso una esemplare sinergia tra ricerca pre-clinica e terapia nuove tecniche diagnostiche e nuovi approcci al trattamento del tumore al colon”.