Introduction

Modelling of the tumour ecosystem requires understanding the multiple cell types that constitute the tumour, the physical environment that these cells exist in, and how this combines to drive tumour progression. This meeting will examine the latest generation of models, incorporating cutting-edge, multidisciplinary efforts to build and analyse patient-reflecting models. The programme brings together a wide range of approaches to understand how better models can uncover cell cooperation and tissue organisation features, which may provide therapeutic intervention opportunities during cancer progression.  

This edition of the conference will focus on how we can build better approaches to engineering our models, making sure they reflect the needs of current day patients, understanding how to analyse our models with the best modalities, and incorporating the immune system as a key component of the tumour ecosystem. 

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Target audience:

• Scientists, postdocs, and graduate students interested in the latest generation of engineered ex vivo models of tissue biology, in vivo cancer biology, and the use of mechanobiological and immunological concepts for the development of therapeutics. 
• Industry scientists interested in cutting-edge models of cancer. 
• Journal editors interested in ex vivo-to-in vivo models of biology and cancer. 

Topics to be covered:

• Cancer models that reflect patient profiles (Building better models)
• How tissue architecture & mechanics influence cancer (Matrix, mechanics)
• Stromal-epithelial crosstalk during tumourigenesis (Immunology, therapeutics)
• Imaging tumour complexity (Imaging)

Scientific Programme Committee:

• David Bryant, CRUK Beatson Institute, UK (Co-chair) 
• Viola Vogel, ETH Zurich, Switzerland (Co-chair) 
• Johanna Ivaska, University of Turku, Finland 
• Laura Rosenberg, AstraZeneca Discovery Sciences, UK 
• Shannon Turley, Amgen, USA 

Lay summary of the conference topic:

Some of what we know about cancer comes from tumour cells grown flat on plastic. Yet this strips away the biology we need to understand: the scaffolding cells sit in, the physical forces, the immune cells hunting through the tumour. Without the features that let tumours develop, we're left with an incomplete picture — and a poor test of whether drugs that look promising in the lab will work in people. 

Goodbye Flat Biology is about building better models: mini-tumours grown from patients' own tissue, engineered to carry the changes seen in patients, imaged while the cells are alive and moving, complete with the immune cells and matrix they'd meet in the body. 

Goodbye flat biology. Hello more effective research. 

Follow us on Bluesky and LinkedIn for updates.

Quote from a previous edition of Goodbye Flat Biology:

“I had been feeling a bit stuck with my research personally, and in the science overall. Goodbye Flat Biology re-ignited my passion and interest and has me excited and proud to be working in this field with colleagues of this calibre.” 
 

The Messe Essen conference venue