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From genetics and cell biology to the pioneering research on new cancer therapies: “Frontiers in cancer research and therapy” is a two day conference on cancer hosted later this month by Karolinska Institutet.

Reporters are welcome to attend the symposium and interview the speakers.
Conference: Frontiers in cancer research and therapy
When: 25 – 26 February 2016
Where: Nobel Forum, Nobels väg, Karolinska Institutet Campus Solna

30 years or so ago, he demonstrated a link between mutations in the HER2 gene and breast cancer. Dennis Slamon from the University of California Los Angeles, USA, then led the development of trastuzumab (Herceptin), an antibody therapy for HER2 that is now extremely important in the treatment of breast cancer. These days he is involved in the development of CDK inhibitors, drugs that inhibit the cell cycle in tumours. He will be speaking on molecular differences in breast cancer and the significance this has for treatment.

Cancer can often be prevented, both by drugs and changes in lifestyle. Pamela Goodwin of Mount Sinai Hospital, Canada, researches the link between obesity, blood sugar and cancer, and how the diabetes drug metformin can lower the risk of breast cancer. Jack Cuzick of Queen Mary University of London, UK, will be speaking about cancer prevention using drugs, such as vaccines for cervical cancer or hormone treatments for breast cancer.

The heterogeneity of tumours is now a hot topic in cancer research. Breast cancer, for example, varies biologically from one patient to the next, but also within the same patient at different times and stages of tumour development. What is more, the same tumour can even contain different types of cancer cell. What is the most effective way to diagnose and treat cancer when the tumour cells very like this? Nicola Crosetto of Karolinska Institutet is one of the speakers during this session.

Treatments that reinforce the immune response to cancer have recently shown results in patients with advanced cancer diseases. Tumour cells can affect the immune system by producing substances that control it in various ways. More about this we will be hearing from David Raulet of the University of California at Berkeley, USA, Karin de Visser of the Netherlands Cancer Institute, Holland, and Russell Jones of McGill University, Canada.

Using major epidemiological studies of tumour pathogenesis, it is possible to identify factors that can predict the development of cancer in a patient. Breast density is one such factor that together with molecular factors can help doctors estimate the risk of a patient developing an aggressive form of breast cancer. Kamila Czene of Karolinska Institutet, will be presenting such studies.

Download the full programme.

For further information, please contact:
Researcher Theodoros Foukakis 
+46 (0)73 689 6713 
Theodoros.Foukakis@ki.se   

Researcher Andreas Lundqvist 
+ 46 (0)73 642 2412 
Andreas.Lundqvist@ki.se  

Press Officer Sabina Bossi
+46 (0)70 614 6066
sabina.bossi@ki.se

Karolinska Institutet is one of the world's leading medical universities. Its vision is to significantly contribute to the improvement of human health. Karolinska Institutet accounts for over 40 per cent of the medical academic research conducted in Sweden and offers the country´s broadest range of education in medicine and health sciences. The Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet selects the Nobel laureates in Physiology or Medicine.

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