Global leaders in cancer research map out new approaches for patients
Posted on: 24 September 2019
A two-day international cancer conference begins today at the Trinity Translational Medicine Institute (TTMI), which will see global leaders in their fields and a new generation of researchers explore ‘advances and future directions in personalised medicine.’ This approach to patient care allows doctors to select the treatments most likely to help patients based on a genetic understanding of their disease.
The ‘International Cancer Conference’, now in its 11th year, is an important legacy of the Northern Ireland peace process, having been established through a tripartite agreement developed in 1999 by the Departments of Health in Ireland and Northern Ireland and the US Administration.
Explaining the importance of today’s conference, Paul Browne, Professor of Haematology at Trinity College Dublin, said:
“This conference brings together local and international clinicians, nurses, allied health professionals, researchers and scientists working in the field of cancer. Our aim is to discuss exciting new developments in cancer research and treatment, with a view to mapping out new approaches for our cancer patients. We are fortunate to have a distinguished international panel of experts for this important meeting.”
“The central theme is that each person with cancer requires an individual ‘personalised’ approach based on applying our best scientific knowledge to the particular aspects of their cancer. This may include factors such as cancer genes, changes in the immune system, and the tissue structures in which cancer cells in the body grow. The idea is to design or ‘tailor’ an individual’s treatment to knowledge of these distinctive factors.”
A highlight of the conference will be the Burkitt Lecture, to be delivered this year by distinguished scientist and pioneer cancer researcher Dr Mina J Bissell from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, California. Dr Bissell’s lecture is entitled: ‘Why don’t we get more cancer? The critical role of extracellular matrix and microenvironment in malignancy and dormancy.’
Dr Bissell will be awarded the Burkitt Medal for her lifetime contributions to cancer research. Her work challenged the central paradigms of cancer, changing the way we look at cancer and its surroundings.
Professor Browne said:
“We are delighted that Dr Mina Bissell, a world-renowned expert on cancer biology, will give the Burkitt memorial lecture. Her lifetime work has a special emphasis on breast cancer, but with broad relevance to all cancers. She has shown how the tissue architecture and environment in which cancer cells develop is so important in determining the pattern – or ‘phenotype’ – of cancer in individual patients. This has important implications for developing effective treatments for each patient.”