Critical Issues in the Tumor Microenvironment

Project Summary/Abstract Genomic medicine and immunotherapy have revolutionized cancer treatment, but the benefits have been limited. Understanding the role of the tumor microenvironment (TME) and targeting TME components has extended these benefits. The objective of our 5-day course entitled “Critical Issues in the Tumor Microenvironment: Angiogenesis, Metastasis and Immunology” is to highlight major advances and gaps in these areas and to discuss future directions for research at the bench, in the clinic, and drug development. We will realize this goal by inviting leaders in these areas to present a 60-minute lecture followed by a 30-minute discussion in a highly interactive forum. Each lecture will include background on the subject matter (~10%) followed by recent developments and outstanding questions in the field (~90%). Upon participation in the 5-day program, attendees should be able to understand and critically evaluate the (i) advances and challenges in therapies targeting the TME (e.g., anti-angiogenics, immune-checkpoint blockers, CAR-T cells, vaccines); (ii) mechanisms contributing to an immuno-suppressive TME (e.g., abnormal vasculature, carcinoma-associated fibroblasts, dense extracellular matrix, hypoxia, low pH); (iii) role of neural-cancer interactions, microbiome, circadian clock, and metabolism in tumor progression and treatment outcomes; (iv) role of endothelial-mesenchymal transition in metastasis and treatment response; (v) relevance of using appropriate pre-clinical models; (vi) applications of the state-of-the-art transcriptomic, proteomic and imaging techniques in pre-clinical and clinical studies; and (vii) emerging role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in oncology. In addition to the education and networking sessions every day, the trainees- focused fifth day of this program will promote career development through the poster session and career roundtable discussions.