MEETING TRAVEL--TUMOR PHYSIOLOGY AND CANCER TREATMENT

American College Of Radiology, Reston VA

Investigators

Abstract

The purpose of this grant application is to request partial travel support to allow domestic and foreign Junior Investigators to attend and participate in a conference entitled 'Tumor Physiology and Cancer Treatment', to be held in Banff, Alberta, Canada, October 5-7, 2000. This will be the eleventh international meeting in a series that began in 1977 and has become known as "Chemical Modifiers of Cancer Treatment" due to an early focus on the use of chemicals to modify the response of tumors and/or normal tissues to the cytotoxic effects of radiotherapy or chemotherapy. The ultimate objective remains the improvement of the therapeutic ratio, but over the years the approaches have become increasingly diverse. At the core of these conferences is the complex tumor microenvironment, which is likely to be both a major contributor to treatment failure and an opportunity for new therapeutic strategies. Topics to be addressed will include molecular and physiological characterization and consequences of the tumor microenvironment, tumor angiogenesis and blood flow considerations, design of specific anti-tumor agents and regimens, gene therapy approaches, new delivery systems, chemotherapy and radiation sensitizers and protectors, etc. The conference will incorporate keynote lectures, proffered abstracts coupled with collated two page "handouts", and significant time for discussion. The eleventh international conference on Tumor Physiology and Cancer Treatment will bring together basic and clinical scientists from six continents. The conference is a true reflection of the concept of translational research as it will foster the two-way exchange of information between the laboratory and the clinic, and will facilitate an improved understanding of the underlying features of cancer as well as encouraging the search for novel, effective cancer therapies.