ICMAT 2007 - International Conference on Materials for Advanced Technologies 2007

(1) EMERGING CONCEPTS IN CANCER DIAGNOSTICS AND NANOMEDICINE

Cancer nanotechnology will radically change the very foundations of diagnosis, treatment and prevention of cancer. The first part of this symposium is an interdisciplinary forum devoted to all aspects of nanoscience, nanoengineering and nanomedicine as applied to cancer diagnosis, treatment and prevention.

Molecular diagnostics is the fastest growing area of modern medicine. Its rapid growth is due to several factors, including: a) the discovery of single-biomarker tests that facilitate diagnosis, prognosis and/or therapeutic decision making in cancer; b) the application of new technologies to the detection of disease biomarkers, such as nanotechnology; and c) the clinical validation of high-throughput and high-content analysis platforms. The goal of this symposium is to provide an interdisciplinary forum for the discussion of state-of-the-art cancer diagnostics, the potential of new and novel physical and/or molecular strategies, and the interconnects between biotechnology, biomedicine and bioindustry that are advancing the field of personalized medicine.

Topics of this symposium will include:

• Nanoparticles for cancer treatment – nanoparticles of biodegradable polymers, solid lipid nanoparticles, lipid bilayer vesicles (liposomes), micelles, etc for anticancer drug delivery,
• Iron oxides (IOs) and quantum dots (QDs) for cancer diagnosis,
• Nanoparticles of multiple functions such as targeting, diagnosing, curing and reporting to make cancer curable at its earliest stage,
• Nanobombs and other nanodevices for cancer diagnosis and treatment
• Single-biomarker diagnostic tests related to novel targeted therapy, taking the role of EGFR as a paradigm (but not exclusively)
• The use and validation of gene expression array platforms in molecular diagnostics, with special emphasis on “gene signatures” in breast cancer, lung cancer and lymphomas.
• The general transfer of new technologies and biomarkers into the clinical setting and their impact on clinical decision making

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(2) BIOIMAGING OF CANCER

“Bioimaging” generally refers to the imaging of living tissues, organs, animals and humans, has expanded in scope enormously in the last 20 years, and now encompasses a huge range of technologies.

Nowhere has this area of research interest in imaging been as intense as in the field of cancer, where imaging is integral to every stage of modern clinical cancer practice, from the initial detection and diagnosis of disease to its staging, its locoregional treatment and ultimately, its progression and recurrence. X-ray, CT, MRI and now PET have been used extensively in the diagnostic armamentarium of the clinical oncologist.

However, there is a much broader role for imaging to play beyond its traditional strength of medical imaging in hospitals, and that is in the field of bioimaging of cancer function, metabolism and genetic expression in vivo in tissue and animal models of disease, as well as the proof of concept development of novel therapies where early physiological response by cancers will facilitate drug and other therapy development. In this way, bioimaging is proving critical for evaluation of new diagnostic approaches and therapies for cancer, from nanotechnology to biomedical devices to new pharmaceuticals across the entire spectrum of human disease.

This symposium will provide an update across a broad range of bioimaging methods and their applications to cancer research, diagnosis and treatment.

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(3) COMPUTATIONAL SYSTEMS BIOLOGY AND MOLECULAR EPIDEMIOLOGY OF CANCER

Genomic technologies have the ability to acquire highly complex cellular data in a gene-precise manner. These deep datasets obtained from cancer cells and tumors shed new light on the complexity and the connectivity of the genomic disruptions that are likely to be both the cause and the consequence of this disease. Frequently, biological processes cannot be fully understood by studying individual components, as it is the interactions between these components that define the properties of the system. Cancer development represents an example of a multi-facet system with tightly coupled mechanisms that will undoubtedly benefit from a comprehensive ‘systems’ approach.

These technologies have also been applied to population-based studies yielding massive quantity of highly correlated biological data. These genomic data can also be integrated with environmental exposure data collected prior to the onset of cancer to study gene-environment interactions in human populations.

This symposium is an interdisciplinary forum to explore all aspects of the biological, epidemiological, biostatistical, mathematical and computational approaches required to model and understand cancer using system approaches.

Topics of interest include but are not limited to:

• Statistical, algorithmic, and hybrid methods for pathway modeling
• Integrated analysis of heterogeneous data sets
• Advanced computational approaches in cancer biology
• New methods to relate structural changes with alterations in gene regulation
• Perturbation analysis and gene network reengineering
• Biological validation of computational predictions
• Predictive pharmacology of cancer
• Biostatistical and bio-informatics methods for genomic data
• Molecualr epidemiological studies of gene-environment interactions.

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(4) INNOVATIVE THERAPIES IN CANCER

Immunology:

Immunotherapies aimed at harnessing the immune system against cancers represent novel and attractive approaches to complement standard treatments of cancers, especially to provide long term protection. Therapeutic antibodies (such as Herceptin, Rituximab), DLI (Donor Lymphocyte Infusion) following bone marrow transplant are typical examples of proven and widely accepted immunotherapies. In contrast, the clinical efficacy of active immunizations (using peptides or proteins, dendritic cells vaccines or viral vectors) has been rather limited so far. Even though such approaches allows inducing of potent anti-tumour immune responses directed against antigens expressed by tumour cells, tumours manage to escape immune recognition. There will be focus on basic and clinical studies aimed at understanding tumour escape from the immune system, specifically the role of the immune system to favour or combat tumours. Special emphasis will be put on local delivery of drugs and vaccines targeting the tumour or its microenvironment.

Surgical Therapy:

As innovation moves diagnosis of cancer from late stage to early stage or even to pre-disease stage, surgical therapy is keeping pace in becoming more precise, organ sparing and minimally invasive. From innovative surgical training using simulators to virtual surgery guided by real time intra-operative imaging, the way surgery is practiced will become vastly different. Technological advancement has allowed precision with computerized tomography or magnetic resonance guidance deep into body cavities such that only the tumour is removed and minimal damage is caused to normal tissue such as stereo static neurosurgery with real time MR/CT or intraoperative radiotherapy. Particle treatment has also gone more precise and high energy with proton/anti-proton therapy in the field of radiation therapy. Nanoparticles targeting specific diseased area tagged with active agents replaces the need to operatively remove the organ. Precision operative robot such as the da Vinci machine allows surgeons to see and manipulate with greater clarity producing vastly improved functional results. Finally when all else fails, tissue engineering allows damage organs to be replaced. Many of these innovation is becoming mainstream. The future of surgery is already upon us.

Drug Delivery:

This session deals with the state-of-the-art design and application of biomaterials in the delivery of drugs and bio-therapeutics. Original research on a wide range of novel biomaterials, including but not limiting to, natural and synthetic polymers, ceramics and composites, are welcomed. In addition, special interest is also paid to novel methods of synthesizing these materials and new ways of delivering drugs.

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(5) CANCER CELL INTERACTION, MOTILITY AND METASTASIS

Cancer can be characterized by the uncontrolled proliferation of abnormal cells which spread to various parts of the body. Malignant cells in the primary tumor invade healthy tissues locally and often metastasize to distant sites. At the present time, metastastic disease for most cancer types cannot be cured. There is an urgent need to unravel the biomechanics of tumor cell migration and how this process can contribute to cancer metastasis. This symposium will focus on areas related to the detailed mechanisms involved in invasion and metastasis of cancer cells. These include the reprogramming of adhesion processes in cancer cells during intravasation and extravasation at distant sites. The rheology of tumor cells possibly interacting with blood cells in the circulation will also be addressed. A better understanding of these mechanisms will undoubtedly contribute to develop specific and effective therapies to target these migratory cancer cells or disrupt the metastatic process.

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(6) THE WAYS THAT CELLS MOVE

The ways in which cells move are often similar in widely different cell types which suggests that only a few basic mechanisms of cell movement can describe the basic behavior of most cells. Speakers will present many of the major types of cell motility.

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