Cancer Immunology & Immunotherapy 2008: From Discovery to Development to Drug
September 15-17, 2008
The 16th annual meeting in CRI's International Cancer Immunotherapy Symposia Series attracted 350 immunologists and tumor immunologists from 165 academic institutions and biotech or pharmaceutical companies in 17 countries. Twenty-seven plenary speakers from academia and industry presented and discussed data from the latest laboratory investigations as well as both early- and late-phase clinical trials of cancer immunotherapies. The presentations were grouped into the following six sessions: (I) Cancer Immunoediting and Cancer and Inflammation; (II) Immunological Consequences of Current Cancer Therapy; (III) Cross Presentation and Tumor Stroma; (IV) Modulators of Immune Escape Mechanisms; (V) Adoptive Immunotherapy; and (VI) Biomarkers and Novel Clinical Parameters in Immunotherapeutic Clinical Trials.

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Cancer and HIV Vaccines: Shared Lessons
October 4-6, 2007
The fifteenth annual meeting in CRI's International Cancer Immunotherapy Symposia Series brought together researchers from both the HIV and cancer vaccine fields, including basic immunologists and clinical investigators, to share data and discuss the issues, challenges, and opportunities facing scientists in the two overlapping areas of health research. Speakers addressed topics including:

• vaccination strategies
• vectors
• Toll-like receptor ligands
• therapeutic HPV vaccines
• effects of chronic viral infection on the immune system
• seromics
• immune checkpoint blockade.

CRI sponsored the conference in conjunction with the Academy of Cancer Immunology. Meeting co-chair and noted cancer immunologist Lloyd J. Old, M.D., chairman of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research and director of CRI’s Scientific Advisory Council, opened the three-day meeting along with HIV vaccine expert Giuseppe Pantaleo, M.D., chief, Division of Immunology and Allergy at the University of Lausanne. In their opening remarks they described progress to date in the two fields of vaccine research and how the two fields can learn valuable lessons from one another.

Speakers include representatives from the National Institutes of Health, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, New York University School of Medicine, and others. Vincent Brichard, M.D., Ph.D., vice president, Cancer Immunotherapeutics, Clinical R&D at GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals (GSK) presented final results of GSK’s phase II study of a MAGE-A3 therapeutic lung cancer vaccine, which recently entered phase III evaluation in the largest clinical trial ever of a lung cancer therapy.

Twenty-three plenary lectures were presented during the symposium and two poster sessions also were featured.

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Cancer Immunotherapy 2006
October 4-6, 2006
The fourteenth annual meeting in CRI’s International Symposia Series was held at the Manhattan Conference Center in the heart of New York City. More than 350 scientists and clinicians met to share the latest data from clinical trials and laboratory research studies taking place within the world’s top medical centers and universities. Lecture topics included:

• Experimental tumor immunology
• Vaccines against HIV and parasitic diseases: Lessons for cancer vaccines
• Clinical tumor immunology and immunotherapies

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Cancer Vaccines 2005: Barriers, Endpoints & Opportunity
October 5-7, 2005
This, the thirteenth in CRI’s Symposia Series, took place October 5-7, 2005, at the Manhattan Conference Center of the Millennium Broadway Hotel in New York City. 350 scientists from around the world gathered together to share and discuss the latest findings in the pursuit of effective cancer vaccines. Plenary lecture and poster session topics included:

• Innate immunity
• Imaging the immune response to infection and cancer
• Immunotherapy, anti-CTLA-4
• Tregs and other checkpoints
• DCs, CD8s, CD4s, and stem cells
• Laboratory monitoring of human anti-tumor responses

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Click here to read the meeting summary published in the December 2005 issue of Nature Immunology. HTML and PDF copies of individual speaker abstracts and a copy of the meeting’s closing remarks from Dr. Kunle Odunsi of the Roswell Park Cancer Institute can be found on Cancer Immunity's site here.

Cancer Vaccines 2004: The next decade — A report from the world
October 4-6, 2004
This meeting, the twelfth in the CRI International Symposia Series, took place October 4-6, 2004, in New York City. More than 300 scientists, clinicians, and students from 15 countries around the globe convened at the Manhattan Conference Center at the Millennium Broadway Hotel in the heart of New York City for the Cancer Research Institute’s twelfth International Cancer Immunotherapy Symposium, “Cancer Vaccines 2004: The Next Decade – A Report from the World.” Dr. Lloyd J. Old, director of CRI’s Scientific Advisory Council, chaired the three-day meeting, which featured 26 plenary lectures from researchers exploring the newest frontiers in experimental cancer immunology and cancer vaccine development. The meeting also featured a poster session, where 91 scientists presented their latest findings.

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Cancer Vaccines 2003: Cancer & HIV vaccines — Shared lessons
October 1-3, 2003 
This meeting brought together more than 350 leaders in the fields of cancer immunology and AIDS from around the globe. Since the researchers involved in the development of vaccines for both of these diseases do not often meet and share information, the CRI meeting provided such an opportunity and helped stimulate new ideas and collaborations that could benefit both fields. The meeting, which featured 19 plenary lectures and a poster session, focused on the development of therapeutic vaccines for each disease and highlighted the current state of efforts aimed at eliciting and monitoring the immunological responses to vaccines.

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Cancer Vaccine Collaborative 2002
September 30 - October 1, 2002
The Cancer Research Institute and the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research have partnered to develop a collaborative cancer vaccine program involving a number of medical centers worldwide. To celebrate this, we held a two-day symposium on September 30 and October 1 announcing the launch of the Cancer Vaccine Collaborative and highlighting the major advances of tumor immunology. The meeting took place at the historic New York Academy of Medicine on the Upper East Side of Manhattan.

The meeting focused on four topics:

    (1) Cancer Immunosurveillance / Immunoediting
    (2) Cancer Antigen Discovery
    (3) Monitoring the Immunological Response to Human Cancer
    (4) Cancer Vaccine Development

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Antibodies 2002 
March 18-20, 2002
In this ninth annual meeting in our International Symposia Series, CRI brought together leading authorities in the field of antibody therapies to set the stage for the next decade of advances in this promising approach to cancer treatment. During the three-day conference, 250 participants heard presentations on antibody biology, targets, constructs, effector functions, and clinical applications in cancer from 25 of the world's leading experts. Monoclonal antibodies’ natural selectivity and specificity have opened the door to new and promising ways of treating cancer. The diversity of the participants and topics discussed helped to underscore the vital work presently on-going in this field of immunological study.

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Cancer Vaccines 2000 
October 2-4, 2000
CRI brought together basic and clinical researchers from around the world who are working to unravel the secrets of tumor immunity and cancer vaccines. Cancer Vaccines 2000, the eighth in the series of meetings, focused on the latest developments in antigen identification and characterization, defining immune responses to cancer, and monitoring immune responses to cancer vaccines.  More than 475 scientists and clinicians from 22 countries attended the three-day meeting, which featured 32 plenary lectures and 117 poster presentations. 

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• T- and B-cell recognition of human tumor antigens
• lymphocyte infiltrates and tumor progression in humans
• immunodeficiency and cancer in animals and humans
• tumor escape routes
• synergistic and antagonistic roles of antibodies in tumor immunity
• viral, parasitic and autoimmune diseases: lessons for tumor immunology 

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Cancer Vaccine Week 1998 
October 5-9, 1998

More than 450 scientists, clinicians and students gathered in New York City for Cancer Vaccine Week 1998 (October 5-9). Held at the Hudson Theatre at the Millennium Broadway, Cancer Vaccine Week 1998 featured plenary lectures by 48 of the world’s leading cancer immunologists. In addition to the lectures, ten pharmaceutical companies and more than 135 researchers displayed posters of their work. Session topics included the identification and characterization of tumor antigens; monitoring cellular and humoral immune responses to defined tumor antigens; cells, cytokines and receptors involved in immune recognition and effector functions; the development and clinical testing of cancer vaccines; and a SEREX workshop. 

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