Biology and Treatment of Metastatic Cancers

**Poster Submission Deadline: 21 July 2014** **Registration Deadline: 25 July 2014**

As many as 90% of all cancer deaths can be attributed to metastatic disease.   Cells from the primary tumor, after travel to regional or distant sites, cause failure of essential organs including the lungs, liver, brain and bone marrow.  Significant advances in the field make this an exciting time for the study of metastasis.  Genetic signatures in primary tumors as well as circulating tumor cells and oligonucleotide or protein biomarkers hold the promise of predicting cancer outcomes and allowing selection of optimal drug candidates.  The isolation of circulating tumor cells has further improved our ability to analyze the tumor genotype.  The ability to metastasize is influenced by the invasive potential of cells in the primary tumor and particularly by self-renewing tumor cells that have properties of cancer stem cells.  New results highlight the plasticity of tumor cells.  Genetic and epigenetic changes take place over time both in the primary site and in the secondary metastatic sites.  Tumor cells can take on the properties of mesenchymal cells or epithelial cells and transition back and forth between these two states.  Furthermore, cells that occupy metastatic sites and primary sites may be so different that they respond to completely different drugs.  An important current goal is the identification of agents that selectively target the cells in established tumor metastases.

The conference will focus on;

• The processes involved in tumor dissemination
• The role of circulating tumor cells and cancer stem cells
• The tumor microenvironment
• Metastatic dormancy
• Tumor cell plasticity
• Chemoresistance
• Novel targeted therapies for the treatment of established metastases

Scientists working in either academic centers or in a pharmaceutical/drug development laboratories will benefit from this meeting.

Confirmed Keynote Speaker

Dr. David Lyden Weill Cornell Medical College

Confirmed Plenary Speakers

Professor Dr. Thomas Brabletz University of Freiburg Dr. Janine Erler University of Copenhagen Professor Dr. Jonathan Sleeman University of Heidelberg

Confirmed Invited Speakers:

Dr. Catherine Alix-Panabières Laboratory of Rare Human Circulating Cells Montpellier Dr. Roger Gomis Institute for Research in Biomedicine of Barcelona Dr. Sonja Loges University Hospital Hamburg-Eppendorf Professor Massimiliano Mazzone KU Leuven Dr. Christina Scheel (GmbH) Dr. Robert Kerbel University of Toronto 

Confirmed Contributing Speakers

Dr. Amina Zoubedi  Vancouver Prostate Centre Professor Dario Marchetti Baylor College of Medicine Dr. Khalid Sossey-Alaoui Cleveland Clinic Lerner Research Institute Dr. Vivek M. Rangnekar University of Kentucky College of Medicine Professor Menashe Bar-Eli UT M.D. Anderson Cancer Center Dr. Gabri van der Pluijm  Leiden University Professor Susan L Bellis University of Alabama at Birmingham  Professor Stuart S. Martin University of Maryland School of Medicine  Professor James Lorens University of Bergen Professor Andrei Thomas-Tikhonenko Children's Hospital of Philadelphia  Dr. Adriana Albini Arcispedale S. Maria Nuova Dr. Frank Rauscher The Wistar Institute  Dr. Arijit Chakravarty Takeda 

Confirmed Short Talks

Dr. Andreas Möller QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute Dr. Alex Chenchik Cellecta, Inc. Dr. William Schiemann  Case Western Reserve University Mme Yu-Ting Huang University of Fribourg 

**Poster Submission Deadline: 21 July 2014** **Registration Deadline: 25 July 2014**