SITC Hot Topic Symposium

November 6, 2011
Bethesda North Marriott Hotel & Conference Center
North Bethesda, MD

Hot Topic Symposium: Targeting the Next Generation of Inhibitory Pathways
Chair: Antoni Ribas, MD – UCLA Medical Center

Each year immediately following the conclusion of the Annual Meeting, the Society hosts a 1½ hour Hot Topic Symposium to address a rapidly developing key issue in the field of cancer immunotherapy. In this final program, leaders in the field deliver dynamic presentations on cutting-edge research and participate in interactive questions and answer sessions with the audience. This year, the Hot Topic Symposium focused on the newest approaches to targeting immune inhibitory pathways in cancer.

Program Purpose

Negative regulation in the tumor microenvironment plays a key role in determining the effectiveness of the immune response to eliminate tumors. CTLA-4 blockade has been shown to effectively improve cancer outcomes and has recently been approved for the treatment of metastatic melanoma. Other immune inhibitory pathways, such as PD-1, have likewise been elucidated and are also proving to be promising targets for cancer treatment. This 1½ hour symposium explored the latest data on blockade of several additional inhibitory pathways in cancer immunotherapy, including B7x, Tim-3, VISTA, and IDO.  

Audience

The target audience for this program was basic and clinical investigators from academic institutions, industry and regulatory agencies, including clinicians, basic and translational researchers, graduate students, post-doctoral fellows, and allied health professionals involved in cancer research.

Program Goals

• Review the most current data on negative regulatory pathways that tumors exploit to inhibit eradication by immune cells
• Describe strategies to target these inhibitory pathways separately or in combination
• Present the latest results with agents designed to target these pathways

Expected Learner Outcomes

Upon completion of this symposium, participants will be able to:

• Describe the cellular and molecular attributes of inhibitory pathways associated with CTLA-4, B7x, Tim-3, VISTA, and IDO
• Discuss the current research on strategies to target these inhibitory pathways with biologics
• Summarize current results from animal studies and available human data targeting these pathways

Symposium Faculty

The Hot Topic Symposium is a non-accredited continuing medical education event. No credits are offered for physician participation in this educational program.