July 29, 2006
Doubletree Hotel
Rockville, MD
iSBTc would like to thank eveyone involved for making the Workshop on Combination Therapy for Cancer a success. Workshop attendess may click HERE to view the available slides from the day's presentations.
Organizer: International Society for Biological Therapy of Cancer (iSBTc)
Location: Rockville, MD
Date: July 29, 2006
Jon M. Wigginton, MD – National Cancer Institute
Craig L. Slingluff, Jr., MD – University of Virginia
Rachel W. Humphrey, MD – Bristol Myers-Squibb Company
Thomas F. Gajewski, MD, PhD – University of Chicago
Bernard A. Fox, PhD - Earle A. Chiles Research Institute
Provide a forum for dialogue between relevant stakeholders in academia, industry and regulatory agencies to address barriers of combination chemotherapy by identifying, anticipating and developing a framework for understanding scientific, regulatory, intellectual property and practical issues related to the combining of two therapeutic agents, particularly when one of both agents are investigational. Discussions from this Workshop will also help set the agenda for a more focused program on Combination Therapies in 2007.
A full-day workshop incorporating general sessions featuring "State of the Art" presentations by key leaders, intimate breakout sessions designed for open discussion in specific topic areas and group discussion/consensus sessions.
Broad-based efforts are now underway to investigate various biologic approaches for the treatment of cancer. A complex range of signals is required to optimally initiate, expand and maintain a successful antitumor immune response. Further, dynamic interactions between the immune system and the tumor microenvironment may play a critical role in determining the overall success of a therapeutically-driven antitumor immune response. This supports the concept that much has occurred with the clinical evolution of combination chemotherapy. The optimal approach for the design of biologic approaches for the treatment of cancer will necessitate rationally designed combinations of agents with complementary mechanisms of action. Significant obstacles exist however, both in our scientific understanding as well as practical issues related to the regulatory complexity and intellectual property issues raised by combining two therapeutic agents, particularly when one or both agents are investigational. This Workshop seeks to address the urgent need for dialogue between relevant stakeholders in academia, industry and regulatory agencies to proactively anticipate and develop a framework for addressing these barriers.
