Dr Carmela Ricciardelli

Research Interests

Dr Ricciardelli a cancer cell biologist; joined the Department in April 2005. Dr Ricciardelli was awarded her Ph D in 1996 (Flinders University) and has undertaken postdoctoral studies in the Department of Surgery, Flinders Medical Centre, South Australia (1996-2001) and Dame Roma Mitchell Cancer Research Laboratories, Hanson Institute, South Australia (2002-2005). She was awarded a Senior Fellowship with Cancer Council of South Australia (2004-2006). In 2005 Dr Ricciardelli was awarded a �Tall Poppy Award� for outstanding achievement in the field of biomedical and clinical science.

Dr Ricciardelli's research program has focused on hormone-regulated proteins and prognostic markers in breast and prostate cancer. Using a novel approach in her postdoctoral studies by examining the non-cancer stromal cells which surround the cancer cells, Dr Ricciardelli was the first researcher to identify that the expression of the extracellular matrix protein, versican correlated with cancer spread in prostate and breast cancer. This was an exciting and unique discovery that has lead to versican expression being examined in many different cancer types. Versican is a molecule known to regulate cellular movement at critical periods in the developing embryo, and control the movement of normal smooth muscle cells, nerves and fibroblasts. Dr Ricciardelli's recent studies suggest that cancer cells can utilize stromally derived versican to aid their movement.

Dr Ricciardelli current research focuses on further understanding the cross-talk between breast and ovarian cancer cells and the extracellular matrix. Dr Ricciardelli is currently studying the mechanisms whereby versican and the adamalysin-thrombospondin (ADAMTS) family of metalloproteinases, promote motility and tumor spread of breast and ovarian cancers.

Publications

Ricciardelli C, Mayne K, Sykes PJ, Raymond WA, Skinner JM, Tilley WD, McCaul K, Marshall VR and Horsfall DJ. Elevated stromal chondroitin sulphate glycosaminoglycan predicts progression in early stage prostate cancer. Clinical Cancer Res, 3: 983-992, 1997 (impact factor 6.250, citations=20)

Ricciardelli C, Mayne K, Sykes PJ, Raymond WA, McCaul K, Marshall VR and Horsfall DJ. Elevated levels of versican but not decorin predict disease progression in early stage prostate cancer. Clin Cancer Res 4: 963-971, 1998 (impact factor 6.250, citations= 59)

Ricciardelli C, Quinn DI, Raymond WA, McCaul K, Sutherland PD, Stricker PD, Grygiel JJ, Sutherland RL, Marshall VR, Tilley WD, Horsfall DH. Elevated levels of peritumoral chondroitin sulfate are predictive of poor prognosis in patients treated by radical prostatectomy for early stage prostate cancer. Cancer Res 59:2324-2328, 1999 (impact factor 7.672, citations=18)

Sakko AJ, Ricciardelli C, Mayne K, Tilley WD, LeBaron RG and Horsfall DJ. Versican accumulation in human prostatic fibro blast cultures is enhanced by prostate cancer cell-derived transforming growth factor �1 Cancer Res 61: 926-930, 2001 (impact factor 7.672, citations=39)

Jackson MW, Roberts JS, Heckford SE, Ricciardelli C, Stahl J, Choong CS, Horsfall DJ, Tilley WD. A potential autocrine role for vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in prostate cancer. Cancer Res., 62: 854-9, 2002 (impact factor 7.672 citations = 78)

Ricciardelli C, Brooks, JH, Suwiwat S, Sakko AJ, Mayne K, Raymond WA, Seshadri R, LeBaron RG, Horsfall DJ. Regulation of stromal versican levels by breast cancer cells and importance to relapse free survival in patients with node negative primary breast cancer. Clin. Cancer Res 8:1054-1060, 2002 (impact factor 6.250, citations=33)

Sakko AJ, Ricciardelli C, Mayne K, LeBaron RG, Marshall VR, Tilley WD, Horsfall DJ. Differential modulation of prostate cancer cell attachment to matrix components by prostate fibroblast conditioned medium. Cancer Res. 63: 4786-4791. 2003 (impact factor 7.672, citations= 20)

Suwiwat S, Ricciardelli C, Tammi R, Tammi M, Auvinen P, Kosma V-M,. LeBaron RG,. Raymond WA, Tilley WD and. Horsfall DJ. Expression of extracellular matrix components versican, chondroitin sulfate, tenascin, and hyaluronan, and their association with disease outcome in node-negative breast cancer. Clinical Cancer Res 10: 2491-2498, 2004 (impact factor 6.250, citations=19)

Jia L, Choong CS-Y, Ricciardelli C, Tilley WD, Coetzee GA. IL-6 inhibits AR activity via STAT3 signaling by inhibiting p300 recruitment to an AR responsive enhancer and promoter. Cancer Research 64: 2619-2626, 2004 (impact factor 7.672, citations= 28)

Ricciardelli C, Choong CS-Y, Buchanan G, Vivekanandan S Neufing P, Stahl J, Marshall VR, Horsfall DJ and Tilley WD. Androgen receptor levels in prostate cancer epithelial and peritumoral stromal cells identify non-organ confined disease. Prostate, 63: 19-28, 2005 (impact factor 3.674, citations=13)

Buchanan, G., Birrell, S. N., Peters, A. A., Bianco-Miotto, T., Ramsay, K., Cops, E. J., Yang, M., Harris, J. M., Simila, H. A., Moore, N. L., Bentel, J. M., Ricciardelli, C., Horsfall, D. J., Butler, L. M., and Tilley, W. D. Decreased androgen receptor levels and receptor function in breast cancer contribute to the failure of response to medroxyprogesterone acetate. Cancer Res, 65: 8487-8496, 2005 (impact factor 7.672, citations=15)

Butler, L. M., Centenera, M. M(impact factor 3.60))., Neufing, P. J., Buchanan, G., Choong, C. S., Ricciardelli, C., Saint, K., Lee, M., Ochnik, A., Yang, M., Brown, M. P., and Tilley, W. D. Suppression of androgen receptor signaling in prostate cancer cells by an inhibitory receptor variant. Mol Endocrinol, 20:1009-24, 2006 (impact factor 5.337, citatation=1)

Ricciardelli C & Rodgers RJ Matrix of ovarian tumours Seminars in Reproductive Medicine 24:270-82, 2006 (impact factor 2.730, citations=4)

Sakko AJ, Ricciardelli C, Dours-Zimmermann MT, Zimmermann DR, Neufing N, Tilley WD Marshall VR and Horsfall DJ. Changes in steroid receptors and proteoglycan expression in the guinea pig prostate stroma during puberty and hormone manipulation. Prostate 67: 288-300, 2007, (impact factor 3.674).

Ricciardelli C, Russell D, Ween MP, Mayne K, Byers S, VR Marshall Tilley WD and Horsfall DJ. Formation of hyaluronan-and versican- rich pericellular matrix by prostate cancer cells promotes cell motility J Biol Chem 282:10814-10825, 2007 (impact factor 5.581, citations=4)

Buchanan G, Ricciardelli C, Harris JM, Prescott J, Chiao-Li Yu Z, Jia L, Butler LM, Marshall VR, Scher HI, Gerald WL, Coetzee GA & Tilley WD. Control of Androgen Receptor Signaling by the Cochaperone, Small Glutamine-Rich Tetratricopeptide Repeat Containing Protein Alpha. Cancer Res 67: 10087-10096, 2007 (impact factor 7.672, citation=1).

Ricciardelli C, Jackson M, Choong CS, Stahl J Marshall VR, Horsfall DJ and Tilley WD. Elevated levels of HER-2/neu and androgen receptor in clinically localized prostate cancer identifies metastatic potential Prostate 68: 830-838, 2008 (impact factor 3.674).

Sakko AJ, Butler MS, Byers S, Reinboth BJ, Stahl J,. Kench JG, Horvath LG, Sutherland RL, Stricker PD, Henshall SM, Marshall VR, Tilley WD, Horsfall DJ & Ricciardelli C. Immunohistochemical level of unsulfated chondroitin disaccharides in the cancer stroma is an independent predictor of prostate cancer relapse. Cancer Biomarkers, Epidemiology & Prevention, Accepted 14th May 2008 in press (impact factor 4.642).

Entry last updated: Tuesday, 26 May 2009