Sapienza and Tor Vergata Universities
OVERVIEW
The primary institutions in charge of APL protocols in Italy have been the Sapienza and later Tor Vergata Universities in Rome, all run by the GIMEMA Foundation (Gruppo Italiano Malattie EMatologiche dell'Adulto), founded by Franco Mandelli in 1982. Following the development of the AIDA (ATRA+Idarubicin) chemotherapy regimen and the initial MRD (measurable residual disease) studies at Sapienza University in the 1990s, Francesco Lo-Coco designed the chemo-free APL0406 and APOLLO protocols at Tor Vergata University. This institution, which has become a referral centre for myeloid diseases, has established an Advanced Diagnostic Laboratory in Oncohaematology and played a central role in numerous clinical, real-world and translational studies, including studies on MRD, genotypic characterisation of canonical and atypical APL, and studies on mechanisms of resistance and relapse, thereby facilitating advances in understanding the disease.
