Welcome to the European Association for Cancer Research
Connecting cancer researchers together
The Tumour Ecosystem: Cellular Interactions and Therapeutic Opportunities
Bergamo, Italy : 19 - 21 March 2024
Scientific programme
To download and print the programme, use the links below.
Listed times are in Central European Time (CET)
REGISTRATION & WELCOME LUNCH
WELCOME TO DAY ONE
SESSION 1 - From research insights to therapeutic opportunities
Chair: Neta Erez
Opening Keynote Lecture
Douglas Hanahan Ludwig Cancer Research, Lausanne, Switzerland
'Immunosuppression in the tumour microenvironment, and beyond'
Q&A: 13:45-13:55
Yuval Shaked Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, Technion City, Haifa, Israel
'Immune-Mediated Extracellular Matrix Remodeling Promotes Tumor Resistance and Metastasis Following Anti-Cancer Therapy'
Q&A 14:15-14:25
Nicoletta Caronni San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
Proffered Paper 1: 'IL-1β+ macrophages fuel pathogenic inflammation in pancreatic cancer'
EXHIBITOR INTRODUCTIONS
COFFEE BREAK & EXHIBITION
Alexander vom Stein University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
Proffered Paper 1a: 'By perturbating fibroblast polarization, stromal LYN kinase expression in the microenvironment is immunomodulatory and promotes viability of chronic lymphocytic leukemia cells. '
Q&A: 15:30-15:35
Ana Farias Imperial College London, UK
Proffered Paper 1b: 'Type I interferons induced upon RSV infection change the lung microenvironment and impair seeding of lung metastatic breast cancer cells'
Q&A 15:45 - 15:50
Johanna Joyce University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
'Unravelling the Complexity of Cancer Ecosystems'
Q&A: 16:10-16:20
MOLECULAR ONCOLOGY CALL FOR CONTENT
Siddhi Maniyar Federation of European Biochemical Societies, Cambridge, UK
POSTER SPOTLIGHTS
Ngozi Akingbesote, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, USA; Alessandra Riggio, Huntsman Cancer Institute, Salt Lake City, USA; Simge Yucel, EPFL Life Sciences, Lausanne, Switzerland
SYMPOSIUM - CancerTools.org
Dr Saverio Tardito Cancer Research UK Scotland Institute, and School of Cancer Sciences, University of Glasgow
'In vitro veritas: transforming cell culture with more physiological conditions'
NETWORKING QUIZ
Our fun, informal quiz offers conference participants the chance to make new connections on the first evening of the meeting.
WELCOME RECEPTION
POSTER DISCUSSION SESSION 1
Listed times are in Central European Time (CET)
EARLY POSTER VIEWING (WITH COFFEE)
INDUSTRY SPOTLIGHT - Lunaphore Technologies
Alioune Ndoye Lunaphore
'Accelerating spatial biology with COMET'
SESSION 2: The macroenvironment and metabolism
Chair: Douglas Hanahan
Leila Akkari Netherlands Cancer Institute, Amsterdam, Netherlands
'Dissecting and rewiring myeloid cell heterogeneity in cancer'
Q&A: 09:50-10:00
Giulia Biffi University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
Proffered Paper 2: 'SMAD4 loss in malignant cells drives a fibro-inflammatory microenvironment in pancreatic cancer'
Q&A: 10:10-10:15
Mariia Yuneva The Francis Crick Institute, London, UK
'Dissecting metabolic heterogeneity and vulnerabilities of tumours'
Q&A: 10:35-10:45
COFFEE BREAK & EXHIBITION
Julio Aguirre-Ghiso Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York, US
'Age-related clonal hematopoiesis (CH) serves as a host-derived driver of awakening of dormant disseminated breast cancer (BC) cells'
Q&A: 11:35-11:45
Monica Cassandras Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, USA
Proffered Paper 3: 'Breast cancer metastasis: uncovering the role of chronic stress in immune evasion'
POSTER SPOTLIGHTS
Kelly McGovern, Dana Faber Cancer Institute, Boston, USA; Tatiana Rizou, Francis Crick Institute, London, UK; Tamar Shami, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
LUNCH
POSTER DISCUSSION SESSION 2
SESSION 3: Organ-specific microenvironments
Chair: Johanna Joyce
Neta Erez Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
'Stromal and Immune Plasticity Shape the Metastatic Microenvironment'
Q&A: 15:05-15:15
Yassmin Elbanna Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, USA
Proffered Paper 4: 'A Mechanoimmunological Basis for Metastatic Site Distribution'
Ye'ela Scharff Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
Proffered Paper 5: 'Complement signaling is a hallmark of inflammatory fibroblasts in chronic diseases and cancer'
Erik Sahai The Francis Crick Institute, London, UK
'Why liver metastases are so hard to treat with immunotherapy'
Q&A: 16:05-16:15
COFFEE BREAK & EXHIBITION
Karin de Visser Netherlands Cancer Institute, Amsterdam, Netherlands
'Dissecting how breast tumours hijack myelopoiesis to promote metastasis'
Q&A: 17:05-17:15
Jean Albrengues Universite Cote d'Azur, Nice, France
'Neutrophil extracellular traps formed during chemotherapy confer treatment resistance via TGF-β activation'
Q&A: 17:35-17:45
MEET THE EXPERT
Neta Erez, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel; Leila Akkari, Netherlands Cancer Institute, Amsterdam, Netherlands; Ruth Scherz-Shouval, Weizmann Institute, Rehovot, Israel; Jean Albrengues, Universite Cote d'Azur, Nice, France
CONFERENCE DINNER
The Conference Dinner will be held at the atmospheric Ristorante Taverna Valtellinese, Optional ticketed event.
Listed times are in Central European Time (CET)
EARLY POSTER VIEWING SESSION (WITH COFFEE)
INDUSTRY SPOTLIGHT - React4Life
Silvia Scaglione React4Life and National Research Council of Italy
'3D Humanized Tissue Cancer Models and Multi-Organ-on-Chip Platforms to Investigate Immune-Tumor Cellular Interactions and Test New Therapeutics'
SESSION 4: Stromal and immune cells shape the TME
Chair: Erik Sahai
Ruth Scherz-Shouval Weizmann Institute, Rehovot, Israel
'Transcriptional and functional plasticity of cancer-associated fibroblasts in the tumor microenvironment'
Q&A: 09:20-09:30
Sara Zanivan CRUK Scotland Institute, Glasgow, UK
'Harnessing CAF metabolism to create an anti-tumour microenvironment'
Q&A: 09:50-10:00
Antoinette van Weverwijk Netherlands Cancer Institute (NKI), Amsterdam, Netherlands
Proffered Paper 6: 'Distinct p53 hotspot mutations differentially regulate immune composition and immunotherapy response in breast cancer'
COFFEE BREAK & EXHIBITION
Santiago Zelenay CRUK Manchester Institute, Manchester, UK
'Protumourigenic inflammation: a targetable immune checkpoint and a biomarker of immunotherapy response'
Q&A: 11:05-11:15
The EMBO Keynote Lecture
Clare Isacke ICR, London, UK
'Targeting the tumour microenvironment to limit metastatic relapse'
Q&A: 11:50-12:00
SUMMARY, AWARDS AND CLOSE
DEPART
Key dates
Travel Grant application deadline:
22 January 2024
Abstract submission deadline:
22 January 2024
Registration deadline:
19 February 2024
