4th International Symposium on Cancer Metastasis and the Lymphovascular System

Basis for Rational Therapy Gets Underway May 12th in New York City

Newswise — (San Francisco, May 6, 2011) Novel therapies for breast cancer, melanoma, and other solid tumors, and discussions of the microenvironment around metastatic disease, will be among the topics covered in presentations at the 4th International Symposium on Cancer Metastasis and the Lymphovascular System: Basis for Rational Therapy, convening in New York City, May 12-14, 2011, at the InterContinental New York Barclay hotel (111 East 48th Street).

Biomarkers and their diagnostic and prognostic applications in metastatic cancer and their usefulness in molecular targeted therapy comprise the primary focus of this conference, according to Symposium chairman Stanley Leong, MD, FACS, Chief of Cutaneous Oncology and Associate Director of the Melanoma Program at the Center for Melanoma Research and Treatment, California Pacific Medical Center and CPMC Research Institute, in San Francisco.

“The program seeks to bring the latest laboratory discoveries about the mechanisms of cancer metastasis into focus, evaluate the significance of sentinel lymph nodes, and to update cutting-edge results from clinical trials,” said Dr Leong.

“This biennial conference assembles a truly all-star, global roster of basic scientists and clinicians,” said Dr Leong. “We anticipate a cross-fertilization of ideas that will enhance the translation of basic science into clinical application—and a challenge to basic scientists with clinical issues—thus linking ‘the bench to the bedside.’”

Features of this year’s Symposium include:• A mini-symposium on Thursday afternoon, May 12, titled New Paradigms for Cancer Treatment Based on the Sentinel Lymph Node Clinical Trials. The session will feature a presentation by Armando Giuliano, MD, of the John Wayne Cancer Institute, who will discuss the results of the American College of Surgeons Oncology Group Z0011 Clinical Trial, featured early this spring in an article co-authored by Dr Giuliano in the New England Journal of Medicine. Also, breast cancer specialists Monica Morrow, MD, of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, and Thomas Julian, MD, of Allegheny General Hospital, Pittsburgh, PA, will debate the pros and cons of conducting axillary lymph node dissections following a positive sentinel lymph node biopsy in breast cancer; and surgeons Dennis Kraus, MD, of Memorial Sloan-Kettering, and Robert Ferris, MD, of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, will present opposing views about whether sentinel lymph node biopsy should be done for primary head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. Donald L. Morton, MD, will deliver the inaugural Donald L. Morton Surgical Oncology Lecture, reviewing the data from the Phase III Multicenter Selective Lymphadenectomy trials in Melanoma. • A mini-symposium on Thursday evening, May 12, titled Progression of Malignant Melanoma: Implications for Treatment, will comprise nine talks and discussion by such international oncology luminaries as Steven O’Day, MD (John Wayne Cancer Institute), Alexander Eggermont, MD (Institut de Cancérologie Gustave Roussy), John Kirkwood, MD (University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute), and Mohammed Kashani-Sabet, MD (California Pacific Medical Center Research Institute), among others. • A special lunch session, on Saturday, May 14, on the status of breast cancer management in 2011, will be chaired by Hope Rugo, MD, (University of California, San Francisco), and will include talks by Clifford Hudis, MD (Memorial Sloan-Kettering), William Gradishar, MD (Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine) on such topics as triple-negative breast cancer, new approaches to managing Her2-positive breast cancer, and new chemotherapies for metastatic breast cancer. • Presentations during the course of the meeting will touch on new and anticipated FDA approvals in melanoma, breast cancer and prostate cancer, among others. The 4th International Symposium on Cancer Metastasis and the Lymphovascular System is sponsored by the National Cancer Institute, the Sentinel Node Oncology Foundation/Sentinel Lymph Node Working Group, Sutter Pacific Medical Foundation, the Arizona Cancer Center, the Melanoma Research Foundation, and AiM at Melanoma.

California Pacific Medical Center. Beyond Medicine.At San Francisco’s California Pacific Medical Center, part of the Sutter Health network, we believe in the power of medicine. We research the most up-to-date treatments, hire the most qualified individuals, and practice the most modern, innovative medicine available. We deliver the highest quality expert care, with kindness and compassion, in acute, post-acute and outpatient services, as well as preventive and complementary medicine. But we also believe that medicine alone is only part of the solution. That’s why we look intently at each individual case and treat the whole person, not just the illness. It’s why we go beyond medical care and provide our patients with things like disease counseling, family support and wellness treatments. As one of California’s largest private, community-based, not-for-profit, teaching medical centers, and a Sutter Health affiliate, we are able to reach deep into our community to provide education, screening and financial support in some of the city’s most underserved neighborhoods. Because medicine can transform a body. But going beyond medicine can transform a life. www.cpmc.org