New cancer treatment possibilities
[PRESS INVITATION 26 February 2015] Over the course of two days, leading Swedish and international researchers will discuss the latest developments in cancer research – from fundamental research to new treatment strategies. Do not miss this year’s cancer conference at Karolinska Institute in Stockholm.
Journalists are welcome to attend the conference and interview the participants.
Conference: Frontiers in Cancer Research and Therapy 2015
Time: 5–6 March 2015
Place: Nobel Forum, Nobels väg 1, Karolinska Institutet Campus Solna, Stockholm.
The conference is split up into several different sessions. On the theme of treatments, we can to listen to Thomas Helleday, Karolinska Institutet, who will be describing a new molecule that can prevent cancer cells from repairing their own DNA when damaged, preventing them from growing or dividing. Laurence Cooper, MD Anderson Cancer Center, USA, will talk about about the potential of immunotherapy, for example how the patient’s own immune cells can be altered to attack tumour cells. In the future it may be possible to combine immunotherapy with radiation treatment to a greater extent. We can learn more about this topic from Sandra Demaria, New York University, USA. Immune cells can also promote tumour growth, and Carola Reis, Roche Innovation Center Penzberg, Germany, will describe the first clinical trials that prevent such immune cells functioning in the tumour.
A person that nearly everyone in cancer research can relate to is Douglas Hanahan, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland. He wrote The Hallmarks of Cancer in the early 2000s, an article that has since been cited tens of thousands of times and which describes six distinctive features of a cancer cell. A follow-up article was published decade later describing further characteristics of cancer cells. One of these is angiogenesis, which involves how cancer cells obtain nutrients from the blood vessels close to them. During the cancer conference, Hanahan will speak about his research on this subject within the theme of the tumour's microenvironment. Kari Alitalo will present ground-breaking research on the formation of lymphatic vessels. Lymphatic vessels are important if the tumour is to be able to metastasise. Several other lectures during the same part of the conference will cover various aspects of tumour size, blood supply, supporting cells and stromal cells, as well as inflammation of the tumour's immediate surroundings.
New research into protein synthesis and protein regulation in cancers will be presented during the session on translation. Jerry Pelletier, McGill University, Canada, describes how a new substance can inhibit a factor that is important to protein synthesis and thus the growth of tumours. Stéphan Vagner, Institut Curie, France, has tested this inhibitor in the treatment of the skin cancer melanoma, specifically in cases where other drugs have been ineffective.
Another part of the conference will be devoted to biomarkers that can be used to determine which individuals might respond to a certain treatment. A biomarker is a biological variable, often a protein, that signals some form of change. Biomarkers may also be extremely important to making a diagnosis or to providing a prognosis for the disease. On this theme, the conference is hosting top researcher Nicholas Navin, MD Anderson Cancer Center, USA. Janne Lehtiö, Karolinska Institutet, will also be discussing recent developments in this area.
Programme
If you have any questions, please contact:
Researcher Andreas Lundqvist
Tel: +46(0)8-517,768 59
E-mail: andreas.lundqvist@ki.se
Press Officer Sabina Bossi
Tel: +46(0)8-524 860 66 or +46(0)70-614 60 66
E-mail: sabina.bossi@ki.se
Contact the Press Office: ki.se/pressroom
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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