Conference on future cancer therapies

[PRESS INVITATION 21 February 2013] Karolinska Institutet invites you to a conference on the latest findings in cancer research, at which many of the worlds most influential scientists in the field will be talking about the microbiology behind cancer as well as cancer drugs and clinical studies.

Reporters are welcome to attend the conference and interview the scientists.

• Conference: Frontiers in Cancer Research and Therapy
• When: Thursday 7 - Friday 8 March, 2013
• Where: Nobel Forum, Wallenbergsalen, Nobels väg 1, Karolinska Institutet campus Solna

Some two dozen scientists, half from the USA and Canada and half from Europe and Israel, will be giving brief presentations of the latest cancer research.

Immunotherapy involves activating the immune system against tumours. One such method is the recently developed treatment of malignant melanoma, whereby a targeted antibody disguises the immune system's T cells in a way that renders the tumour cells more vulnerable to attack. Another method involves temporarily removing T cells from the patient so that they can be made to recognise tumour cells more effectively. Drs Michael Postow and Carl June from the USA will be giving us the latest developments in immunotherapy research against cancer.

Dr Nahum Sonenberg, Canada, has many ideas about treating cancer, such as attacking the tumours with a virus. His research into microRNA could provide important information on the formation and growth of tumours. MicroRNA is a non-coding molecule involved in the regulation of gene expression.

During the session on tumour cell signalling, Professor Stig Linder, Karolinska Institutet, will be talking about a new class of proteasome inhibitor, which could become a new drug to treat certain cancers, such as bone marrow cancer.

Angiogenesis, or the formation of new blood vessels around a tumour, is often essential to the survival of the tumour cells; consequently, the development of angiogenesis inhibitors has long been a promising method for treating cancer. Professor Peter Carmeliet will be presenting different strategies for regulating angiogenesis. Research into this and the tumour micro-environment (i.e. the other cells and molecules in the immediate vicinity of the tumour) is intense. Dr Jérôme Galon, France, will be presenting exciting new data on how the composition of different immune cells in the micro-environment determine the prognosis of tumours such as those in the intestine, which is his particular research focus. Macrophages, cells that form part of the immune system, have also been shown to play a part in the development of cancer, notably in the supply of blood to the tumour. This will be the subject addressed by Professor Michele de Palma, Switzerland.

The Frontiers in Cancer Research and Therapy conference, the eleventh in succession, is open to everyone and no registration is required.

• Program (Pdf file, 556 Kb)

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