Top Cancer Biologists Discuss Latest in Tumor Microenvironment

Newswise — On Tuesday, April 29, the Stony Brook University Cancer Center and the Department of Molecular Genetics & Microbiology at Stony Brook University will hold a one-day seminar to take close look at how tumor cells interact with other cells around them. These host cells within the tumor microenvironment help cancer cells survive, grow and spread. Called "Tumor: Host Interactions Symposium 2008," the event brings nationally recognized cancer researchers together to present the latest research in tumor-host cell interactions and its implications on potential treatments for disease. The symposium will take place at the Charles B. Wang Center at Stony Brook University.

"It is only within the past 10 years that cancer researchers have paid more attention to the tumor microenvironment and how critical non-cancerous cells actually are to the development of cancer and how the disease thrives," says Michael J. Hayman, Ph.D., Associate Director for Research at Stony Brook University Cancer Center, and one of the co-organizers of the symposium. "The symposium speakers will provide important insights to tumor-host cell interactions of various kinds and a unique opportunity for scientists and physicians to learn about the latest advances in this arm of cancer research."

Seven speakers will present their research and theories. The program begins at 10:00 a.m. and finishes at approximately 4:45 p.m.

Two speakers, Mina Bissell, Ph.D., of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in Berkeley, Calif., and John Condeelis, Ph.D., of Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, have received significant attention for their work from the international scientific community. Most recently, their work was featured in an April news focus article in Science Magazine.

Dr. Bissell will present "Genes and the Microenvironment: The Two Faces of Breast Cancer." Her pioneering work in the area of tumor microenvironments have shown that treating human breast cancer cells with an antibody directed at a cell surface protein that interacts with the microenvironment causes them to behave more like normal cells. Dr. Condeelis will present "Breast Tumor Invasion: Tumor Cell Chemotaxis in a Macrophage-dependent Microenvironment." Dr. Condeelis' research centers on how tumor cells are called to the vessels by macrophages, including during the development of breast cancer.

The role of the host inflammatory responses in tumor progression, a key issue in tumor-host cell interactions, figures prominently in two presentations. Lisa Coussens, Ph.D., of the University of California, San Francisco, will present "Tissue-Specific Mechanisms Regulating Inflammation-Associated Epithelial Carcinogeneis," and Richard Bucala, M.D., Ph.D., Yale University, will discuss "MIF and the Inflammatory Pathogenesis of Cancer."

Another research theme central to the symposium topic at large is host cell enzymes and invasion. The key presentation regarding such research will be "Membrane-type Matrix metalloproteinases and Cancer Cell Invasion," presented by Steven Weiss, M.D., of the University of Michigan. Two other presentations will take a broad look at the tumor microenvironment and possible therapies. Gerard Evan, Ph.D., of the University of California, San Francisco, will detail "How Oncogenes Maintain Tumors and Their Microenvironment," and George Yancopoulos, M.D., Ph.D., Regeneron, will discuss "Drug Discovery in Biotech: From Traps to VelocImmune."

For more information about "Tumor: Host Interactions Symposium 2008," call 631-632-8800.