In addition to his lifelong care for cancer patients, Dr. Torti has made extensive contributions to medical science.

Dr. Torti has served on numerous national boards and panels, including:

• National grant review panels of the National Institutes of Health, Department of Veteran Affairs, Department of Defense, and the American Institute for Cancer Research.
• The External Advisory Boards of 8 Comprehensive Cancer Centers.
• The Board of Directors of the Association of American Cancer Institute
• The National Coalition for Cancer Research
• The National Cancer Institute (NCI) Clinical Trial Advisory Committee
• The NCI Board of Scientific Advisors.
• The NIH Council for the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine
• Founding President of the Cancer Biology Training Consortium.
• The Advisory Committee to the Congressional Taskforce on Research and Innovation.

Medical Science

 Dr. Torti has designed and executed clinical trials for advanced prostate and bladder cancer that became standards of care worldwide. He has identified important gene signatures that predict outcome for patients with breast and prostate cancer.  He has also studied ways to limit the toxicity of anthracyclines, important and commonly used cancer drugs, and helped to develop new drugs.  Below are some articles he published together with his collaborators.

• The chemotherapy of prostatic adenocarcinoma.  Ann Intern Med 92 (5):  681-689.
• Weekly doxorubicin in endocrine-refractory carcinoma of the prostate.  J Clin Oncol 1 (8):  477-482.
• Reduced cardiotoxicity of doxorubicin delivered on a weekly schedule:  Assessment by endomyocardial biopsy. Ann Intern Med 99 (6):  745-749.
• The extent of surgery after chemotherapy for advanced germ cell tumors.  J Urol 132 (5):  915-917.
• Prognostic significance of a decline in serum human chorionic gonadotropin levels after initial chemotherapy for advanced germ-cell carcinoma.  Ann Intern Med 100 (1):  183-186.
• Tamoxifen in advanced prostatic carcinoma:  A dose escalation study.  Cancer 54 (4):  739-743.
• Hormonal therapy for prostate cancer.  N Eng J Med 311:  1313-1314, 1984. (commentary)
• Cisplatin, methotrexate and vinblastine (CMV):  An effective chemotherapy regimen for metastatic transitional cell carcinoma of the urinary tract.  A Northern California Oncology Group Study.  J Clin Oncol 3 (11):  1463-1470.
• Hormonal risk factors in testicular cancer:  A case control study.  Am J Epidemiol 124 (1):  39-52.
• Cardiotoxicity of epirubicin and doxorubicin:  Assessment by endomyocardial biopsy.  Cancer Res 46 (7):  3722-3727.
• Superficial bladder cancer:  The primacy of grade in the development of invasive disease.  J Clin Oncol 5:  125-130.
• Alpha interferon in superficial bladder cancer:  A Northern California Oncology Group Study.  J Clin Oncol 6 (3):  476-483.
• Adjuvant intravesicular pharmacotherapy for superficial bladder cancer.  J Natl Cancer Inst 83 (10):  682-694.
• Cisplatin, methotrexate and vinblastine (CMV) plus surgical restaging for patients with advanced transitional cell carcinoma of the urothelium. J Urol 150:  65-69
• Radio Frequency Ablation of Lung Metastases from Renal Cell Carcinoma.  J Urol 166:  1827-1828.
• Phase II trial of radio frequency ablation of renal cancer: evaluation of the kill zone.  J Urol 168:  2401-2405.
• Advanced Bladder Cancer (ABC) Meta-analysis Collaboration.  Neoadjuvant chemotherapy in invasive bladder cancer:  a systematic review and meta-analysis.  Lancet 361: 1927-1934.
• Phase I/II study of 19-nor 1α-25-Dihydroxyvitamin D2 (Paricalcitol) in Advanced, Androgen-Insensitive Prostate Cancer.  Clin Cancer Res 11(24):  8680-8685.
• Vinorelbine (Navelbine), Doxorubicin (Adriamycin), And Prednisone (NAP) In Androgen-Independent Prostate Cancer. Cancer 107 (6):  1093-1100.
• Phase I-II prospective dose-escalating trial of lycopene in patients with biochemical relapse of prostate cancer after definitive local therapy.  Urology 67 (6):  1257-61.
• A phase II, randomized, open-label, pilot study to evaluate the safety and the effects on bone resorption of saracatinib (AZD0530) in patients with prostate cancer or breast cancer with metastatic bone disease.  Bone, 48(1):S17.
• Phase I and pharmacokinetic study of angiotensin-(1-7), an endogenous antiangiogenic hormone.  Clin Cancer Res 15(23):7398-7404.

Basic Science

Dr. Torti has made fundamental scientific observations on the molecular action of oxidants and cytokines and their relationship to cancer and iron homeostasis. He has been continually funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and National Cancer Institute (NCI) for his basic science research for over 30 years. He received a MERIT award from the NIH.  Together with his colleagues, he has published more than 300 scientific articles in highly respected journals.  A few are listed below.

• A macrophage factor inhibits adipocyte gene expression:  An in vitro model of cachexia.  Science 229 (4716):  867-869.
• Doxorubicin selectively inhibits muscle gene expression in cardiac muscle cells in vivo and in vitro.  Proc Natl Acad Sci 87:  4275-4279.
• Iron-independent induction of ferritin-H chain by tumor necrosis factor.  Proc Nat Acad Sci USA 88:  4946-4950.
• Role for NF-KB in the regulation of ferritin H by tumor necrosis factor-a.  J Biol Chem 270:  15285-15293.
• Selective Inhibition of Muscle Gene Expression by Oxidative Stress in Cardiac Cells. J Mol Cell Cardiol 30:  1173-1180.
• Tumor cell cytotoxicity of a novel metal chelator. Blood 92:  1384-1389.
• Human H-Kininogen is a Ferritin-Binding Protein. J Biol Chem 273 (22):  13630-13635.
• p53-independent apoptosis mediated by tachpyridine, an anti-cancer iron chelator.  Carcinogenesis 22 (10):  1607-1614.
• Ferritin heavy chain upregulation by NF-KB inhibits TNFµ-induced apoptosis by suppressing reactive oxygen species.  Cell 119 (4):  529-542.
• Tachpyridine, a metal chelator, induces G2 cell cycle arrest, activates checkpoint kinases, and sensitizes cells to ionizing radiation.  Blood 106 (9):  3191-3199.
• Iron chelation in the biological activity of curcumin.  Free Radic Biol Med 40:  1152-1160.
• Thermal Ablation Therapeutics based on CNx Multi-Walled Nanotubes.  International Journal of Nanomedicine 2(3):1-8.
• A Human Bone Morphogenetic Protein Antagonist is Downregulated in Renal Cancer.  Mol. Biol. Cell 19: 457-464.
• The Core Control System of Intracellular Iron Homeostasis: A Mathematical Model. J Theor Biol. 300:91-99.
• The resistance of breast cancer stem cells to conventional hyperthermia and their sensitivity to nanoparticle-mediated photothermal therapy. Biomaterials 33(10):2961-70.
• Iron and Cancer: More Ore to be Mined.  Doi: 10.1038/nrc3495. Nature Reviews Cancer.
• Cellular Iron Metabolism in Prognosis and therapy of Breast Cancer. Critical Reviews in Oncogenesis.18(5), 435-448
• IRP2 regulates breast tumor growth. Cancer Res. 74 (2):497-507
• Hepcidin regulation in prostate and its disruption in prostate cancer. Cancer Res. 75:2254-63.
• Cytoprotective Effect of Ferritin H in Renal Ischemia Reperfusion Injury.  PLoS One 10(9):e0138505.
• Iron addiction: a novel therapeutic target in ovarian cancer.  Oncogene 36: 4089-4099.
• Ferroptosis: A Regulated Cell Death Nexus Linking Metabolism, Redox Biology, and Disease. Cell 171: 273-285.
• A systems biology approach to understanding the pathophysiology of high grade serous ovarian cancer: focus on iron and fatty acid metabolism, OMICS: A Journal of Integrative Biology, 22(7).
• Contribution of three-dimensional architecture and tumor-associated fibroblasts to hepcidin regulation in breast cancer. Oncogene.;37(29):4013-4032.
• Sideroflexin 4 affects Fe-S cluster biogenesis, iron metabolism, mitochondrial respiration and heme biosynthetic enzymes. Sci Rep. 9(1):19634.
• Stearoyl-CoA Desaturase 1 protects ovarian cancer cells from ferroptotic cell death.  Cancer Res.79(20):5355-5366.
• Systems biology of ferroptosis: A modeling approach. J Theor Biol. 493:110222.
• Complementary anti-cancer pathways triggered by inhibition of sideroflexin 4 in ovarian cancer. Scientific reports, 12, 19936.

Education

Dr. Torti founded the Cancer Biology Training Consortium, which now has members from approximately 70 medical institutions that focus on cancer biology training. A roadmap for training young scientists in the field of cancer biology was outlined in the publication below.

• Ph.D. Training in Cancer Biology. Cancer Res 68(22):  9122-4.