Euroscicon, Cineworld: The O2, Peninsula Square, London SE10 0DX, United Kingdom
12-14th May 2014
Monday, 12 May 2014 Advances in Cancer Screening and Prevention Research 9:00 – 9:45 Registration 9:45 – 10:00 Introduction by the Chair 10:00 – 10:30 Estonian experience in establishing a cancer screening registry: opportunities and challenges of the e-health era Dr Piret Veerus, Senior researcher, National Institute for Health Development, Estonia Experiences in establishing a central electronic cancer screening registry in Estonia which is purely based on acquiring data from patients' electronic health records at the outpatient clinics and hospitals. 10:30 – 11:00 Head and Neck Cancer (HNC) Screening in National and High-risk Populations in Ireland Dr Eleanor O'Sullivan, Clinical Lecturer, Cork University Dental School & Hospital, Ireland Despite increasingly aggressive therapies, HNC 5-year survival rates (<50%) have remained relatively unchanged for 40yrs due largely to continued late presentation. This paper presents the Irish experience of targeted screening among high-risk individuals and subsequent development of a National HNC Awareness campaign. This campaign, now in its 4th year, aimed to increase public awareness, highlight modifiable risk factors, and stress potential role of dental professionals in early detection. National Mouth Cancer Awareness Day (MCAD) was established and the public encouraged to attend for free mouth cancer examinations/advice. The presentation shares lessons learned in the development and implementation of this intervention.
11:00 – 11:30 Speakers’ photo then mid-morning break and poster exhibition and trade show
11:30 – 12:00 Quality Control in Cervical Cancer Screening Dr Alenka Repše Fokter, MD, Ph.D, MIAC, cytopathologist, Dept. of Pathology and Cytology, Celje general Hospital, Slovenia In order to be successful cervical cancer screening programmes should be organised. European guidelines strongly advise that the standards for quality assurance and quality control should be implemented in each cytology laboratory and short- and long-term results of the screening programme should be regularly monitored. Additionally, communication between cytologists, pathologists, gynaecologists and all others who are involved in the screening programme is very important. Gynaecologists should be informed about their percentage of pathological and unsatisfactory smears in comparison with the country and laboratory average. It is recommended to hold periodical interdisciplinary meetings where all the complicated cases can be discussed. 12:00 – 12:30 ORAL PRESENTATIONS 12:30 – 13:30 Lunch, poster exhibition and trade show 13:30 – 14:30 Discussion Panel 14: 30 – 15:00 The European Prostate cancer screening trial ERSPC: outcomes and methods for risk stratification. Dr Monique Roobol, Associate professor, epidemiologist, Erasmus University Medical center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands Systematic PSA based prostate cancer screening has proven to be able to reduce prostate cancer morbidity and mortality with app. 40% and 30% res. Unfortunaltely the screening tests used lack sensitivity and specificity to identify only those prostate cancers that are life threathening. Hence, PSA based screening also results in over diagnosis and subsequent over treatment of indolent prostate cancer that without screening would never have lead to compliants or death. A better riskstratification is therefore warranted. 15:00 – 15:30 Afternoon Tea, last poster session and trade show 15:30 – 16:00 Mammography Screening for Breast Cancer. Is it living up to its promise? Dr Anthony Miller, Professor Emeritus, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Canada Mammography screening was introduced following randomised screening trials conducted before recent advances in breast cancer treatment. One exception, the Canadian trial, found no benefit of mammography, even after long-term follow-up. Women were disadvantaged because of the costs of diagnostic interventions, and over-diagnosis of breast cancer. Over-diagnosis is now recognised as a major adverse consequence of many screening tests. Studies in populations utilising mammography screening that take note of advances in breast cancer treatment have found little impact upon breast cancer mortality. It is necessary to reassess the costs and benefits of mammography screening and consider other breast cancer control measures. 16:00 – 16:30 A New Era in the Control of Breast Cancer Dr Laslzo Tabar, Professor emeritus, Department of Mammography, Falun Central Hospital, Falun, Sweden The success of the randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in demonstrating a significant decrease in mortality from breast cancer has given us convincing evidence that this disease is not systemic from its inception; instead it is a progressive disease where detection and treatment in the early phase accomplishes a significant improvement in outcome. It is clear today that the treatment methods which fail in advanced stage disease have proven lifesaving capability when applied years earlier in the course of the disease.This leads to the inescapable conclusion that patient outcome will depend more on the time point in the course of the disease when therapy is initiated, and less on the particular therapeutic regimen chosen. 16:30 - 17:00 Chairman’s summing up Cancer Biomarker Discovery and Assay Development Tuesday, 13 May 2014 9:00 – 9:45 Registration 9:45 – 10:00 Introduction by the Chair 10:00 – 10:30 10:30 – 11:00 Mesenchymal and rare colorectal carcinomas as a paradigm to identify new biomarkers/alterations of tumor aggressiveness. New pathways, and an unexpected role of chromatin remodeling complexes Dr Massimo Pancione, PhD Department of Sciences and Technologies, University of Sannio, Italy Rhabdoid colorectal tumors (RCTs) are a type of colon cancer extremely rare, frequently metastatic and highly lethal accounting for a median of survival of only 3 months. We hypothesized that advances in our knowledge of the molecular and genetic mechanisms that initiate this lethal form of tumor may provide clues to identify driver genes mutations or novel pathways not previously tied to colon cancer. Chromatin regulatory factors are emerging as important genes in cancer development and are regarded as interesting candidates for novel targets for cancer treatment. Whole-exome sequencing analysis of RCTs has revealed new driver genes mutations in the following genes (AGO2, ADCK5, CDK16, ACOX1, ATM, GLI3) and a broad range of pathways alterations ( Homologous Recombination DNA repair, Protein kinase, Hedgehog) never tied with CRC development. The study of rare disease disorders provide a powerful biological rationale for the identifications of novel gene mutations, especially for the possibility to exploit such an information in the development of new strategies of cancer therapy for aggressive colonic tumors. 11:00– 11:30 Speakers’ photo then mid-morning break and poster exhibition and trade show 11:30 – 12:00 Professor Vessela Kristensen, University of Oslo, Norway. 12:00 – 12:30 Oral Presentations 12:30 – 13:30 Lunch, poster exhibition and trade show 13:30 – 14:30 Discussion session 14: 30 – 15:00 Epigenetic assays and clinical diagnostic development Dr Mark Eccleston, Managing Director,OncoLytika, UK 15:00 – 15:30 Afternoon Tea, last poster session and trade show 15:30 – 16:00 16:00 – 16:30 Paediatric lymphoma: diagnosis, biomonitoring and therapy Dr Suzanne Turner, Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research Lecturer, Department of Pathology, University of Cambridge, UK Paediatric lymphoma is fortunately relatively rare and is often considered to be the same disease that presents in adult patients. However, there are some forms of paediatric lymphoma that are quite distinct from the adult disease and have their own unique progression pathway. In order to understand these processes we employ murine models and primary patient material; these tools enable the development of novel biomarkers and therapies and will be discussed with relevence towards Anaplastic Large Cell Lymphoma. 16:30 - 17:00 Chairman’s Summing Up and Close of Meeting Anti-Cancer Therapeutics: From research to trials to treatment Wednesday, 14 May 2014 09:00 - 17:00 9:00 – 9:45 Registration 9:45 – 10:00 Introduction by the Chair: Dr Ann L White, Antibody and Vaccine Group, Faculty of Medicine, Southampton University Hospital, UK 10:00 – 10:30 The selective targeting of cell survival pathways in cancer cells Dr. Mark Guthridge, Senior Research Fellow, Australian Centre for Blood Diseases, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia Drugs that selectively block cell survival pathways in malignant cells may lead to improved therapeutic outcomes. However, blockade of one cell survival pathway while leaving others intact can allow malignant cells to evade cytotoxic therapies leading to disease relapse. We have identified novel approaches that allow the blockade of multiple independent survival pathways leading to the potent induction of apoptosis in transformed cells of diverse origins including breast cancer, glioblastoma, myeloma and acute myeloid leukemia. Our findings identify previously unrecognized alliances between distinct and independent survival pathways in cancer cells which demonstrate therapeutic potential. . 10:30 – 11:00 Dr Hendrik-Tobias Arkenau, Medical Oncologist, Sarah Cannon Research Institute UK/University College London, UK 11:00 – 11:30 Speakers’ photo then mid-morning break and poster exhibition and trade show 11:30 – 12:00 Talk to be confirmed 12:00 – 12:30 Oral Presentations 12:30 – 13:30 Lunch, poster exhibition and trade show 13:30 – 14:30 Discussion session 14: 30 – 15:00 Translating antibodies engineered with IgE Fc regions to elicit enhanced effector functions for cancer therapy Dr. Sophia N. Karagiannis, Senior Research Fellow in Translational Cancer Immunology, Head of Cancer Antibody Discovery and Immunotherapy, St. John's Institute of Dermatology, Division of Genetics and Molecular Medicine, King's College London School of Medicine, UK Developing therapeutic antibodies with enhanced effector functions is highly desirable in cancer therapy and can improve clinical outcomes. We have provided evidence in a number of indications and with a number of engineered modalities that antibodies engineered with Fc regions of the IgE class that target tumour-associated antigens can confer superior effector functions when compared to antibodies with IgG Fc regions. Numerous attributes of IgE, such as natural immune activatory functions in tissues and high affinity for cognate receptors on frequently tumour-resident effector cells translate into effector cell activation and superior protection against solid tumours compared to those triggered by IgG. A paradigm for this concept, the antibody MOv18 IgE, against the tumor antigen Folate Receptor α is prepared for first-in-man clinical studies. 15:00 – 15:30 Afternoon Tea, last poster session and trade show 15:30 – 16:00 Talk to be confirmed Professor Tracy Robson, Experimental Therapeutics Research Group, School of Pharmacy , Queen's University, Belfast Medical Biology Centre, N.Ireland 16:00 – 16:30 Targeting leukemic stem cells to improve treatment of chronic myeloid leukemia. Dr. Xiaoyan Jiang, Senior Scientist and Associate Professor, Terry Fox Laboratory, BC Cancer Agency Medical Genetics, University of British Columbia, Canada Recent introduction of Imatinib Mesylate (IM) and other tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) therapies has had a major impact on treatment of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) worldwide. However, TKI monotherapies are not curative and initial and acquired TKI resistance, as well as relapse, remain challenges. We have demonstrated that CML stem cells are less responsive to TKIs and are a critical target population for drug resistance. We have also identified an AHI-1-BCR-ABL-JAK2 protein complex that contributes to the transforming activity of BCR-ABL and drug resistance of CML stem/progenitor cells. Combination treatment with a JAK2 inhibitor and TKIs more effectively eradicates CML stem/progenitor cells than single agents, in vitro and in vivo, suggesting an improved strategy to eliminate these critical cells.
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