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Tuesday, February 12

7:45 am Morning Coffee

 

Tumor-Stromal Interactions and Host
Response in Cancer Patients 

7:55 Chairperson’s Remarks

Eric A. Murphy, Ph.D., Research Investigator in Oncology Pharmacology Genomics Institute of the Novartis Research Foundation

8:00 KEYNOTE PRESENTATION: Tumor-Stromal Interactions: A New Target for Cancer Therapy with Radically New Methods for Delivery of Treatment

David Tarin, M.D., Ph.D., Professor of Pathology, Director, UCSD Comprehensive Cancer Center

Cancer cells have an obligate dependency on the host stroma for growth and survival. Without such stromal support they will regress or die. Support is critically dependant on cross-communication between the partners. This exposes a major vulnerability to target therapeutically. Radically new methods to deliver and focus such treatment will be described.

8:30 Quantitative, Spatial Analysis of Cell Populations in Tissue

Peter P. Lee, M.D., Professor and Associate Chair, Cancer Immunotherapeutics & Tumor Immunology (CITI), City of Hope and Beckman Research Institute, Beckman Center

We developed a quantitative image analysis approach incorporating 1) multi-color tissue staining, 2) high-resolution, automated whole-section imaging, 3) analysis software that identifies cell types and locations, and 4) spatial statistical analysis.

9:00 Stromics: The Other Side of Personalized Medicine and Pathology

Richard Levenson, M.D., Professor and Vice Chair for Strategic Technologies, Department of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, University of California Davis Medical Center

Recent data from multiple investigators suggest that host factors rather than specific tumor characteristics may determine clinical outcomes. How should these perspectives be reflected in research and clinical practice, particularly with respect to pathology-based tools?

9:30 Cancer Stromal Targeting (CAST) Therapy in Oncology

Yasuhiro Matsumura, M.D., Ph.D., Division of Developmental Therapeutics, National Cancer Center Hospital East, Tokyo, Japan

Most human solid tumors possess abundant stroma, hindering diffusion of macromolecules including antibody drug conjugates (ADC). Stroma-targeting immunconjugates bound to the stroma to create a scaffold, from which sustained release of cytotoxic agent occurred and subsequently diffused throughout the tumor tissue to damage both tumor cells and tumor vessels.

10:00 Coffee Break with Exhibit and Poster Viewing

10:30 3D Microtumors: Enabling Microenvironmental Studies in 384-Well Formats

Eric A. Murphy, Ph.D., Research Investigator in Oncology Pharmacology Genomics Institute of the Novartis Research Foundation
3D-microtumors provide an innovative 3-dimensional assay format that enables culturing of patient-derived tumor fragments.  The 3D-microtumors are embedded in a well-characterized extracellular matrix composition and are amenable to studying basic tumor biology, novel target identification/validation, and therapeutic screening modalities in 384-well format. 

11:00 RON Overexpression Accelerates Tumorigenesis and Drives Macrophage Differentiation Towards an Alternatively Activated (M2) Phenotype in a Mouse Model of Spontaneous Pancreatic Cancer

Michele Babicky, M.D., Department of Surgery, University of California San Diego

RON overexpression shifts macrophage differentiation toward the M2 phenotype mouse model of spontaneous pancreatic cancer driven by RON overexpression and oncogenic KRAS, suggesting a direct connection between aberrant signaling in cancer cells and inflammatory changes in the tumor microenvironment.

11:30 PANEL DISCUSSION: Cell-Based Approach vs. Tumor-Stromal Approach to Cancer Diagnostics and Drug Development

Moderator: Richard Levenson, M.D., Professor and Vice Chair for Strategic Technologies, Department of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, University of California Davis Medical Center

12:00 pm Close of Symposium

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