Recommended Short Courses*

(SC4) CIRCULATING TUMOR CELLS AND CANCER STEM CELLS (Click on the title to view the full description)

Recommended Pre-Conference Short Courses* Tuesday, February 24 2:00 – 5:00pm Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) counts were found to be prognostic in early breast cancer and correlate with response to treatment in the metastatic disease for patient monitoring. More downstream analyses of CTC will provide important information for clinical applications. Cancer stem cell is an important cell marker and has high potential to correlate with drug resistance and cancer recurrence. Cancer stem cell can be detected from blood sample using CTC enrichment methods. This short course will cover studies of CTC, Cancer Stem Cell and Stem Cell with the most exciting enrichment and detection technologies and analyses from a group of frontier scientists. Topics to be covered: •  CTC specific biomarkers and clinical applications •  Advanced CTC and Cancer Stem Cell enrichment, detection and downstream analyses technologies •  Stem Cell technologies Course Instructors: John Park, M.D., Associate Clinical Professor, Hematology & Oncology, University of California, San Francisco Glenn Deng, Ph.D., Senior Scientist, Circulating Tumor Cells, Genetix •  Present a new model for CTC enrichment and analysis in cancer patient samples. •  Describe the detailed protocol and critical steps during the CTC analysis process. •  Describe the advantages of image analysis with the combination of multiple fluorescent biomarkers plus brightfield images. •  Present a platform for CTC identification and FISH analysis in patient sample. Katharina Effenberger, Ph.D., Institute of Tumor Biology, Center for Experimental Medicine, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf •  Application/Validation of CTC enrichment (Genetix protocol, presented by Glenn Deng) and analysis in blood samples of metastatic breast cancer patients and healthy controls. •  Comparison of CTC status after CTC enrichment (“Genetix protocol”, presented by Glenn Deng) and analysis in blood samples of primary breast cancer patients before and after surgery. •  Immunocytochemical establishment of potential stem cell markers in blood samples of cancer patients. •  Integration of potential stem cell markers into the “Genetix protocol”. •  Question to be answered: Do we have a reliable stem cell marker for the characterization of CTC? Amir Ali Talasaz, Ph.D., Research Associate, Stanford Genome Technology Center, Stanford University Ying Liu, Ph.D., M.D., Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine, Invitrogen •  Overview of genetic engineering in human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) •  A site-specific targeting system in hESCs mediated by bacteriophage recombinases •  Long term gene expression of genetic elements in this targeting system in hESCs •  Directed differentiation to obtain genetically modified neural stem cells from hESCs Massimo Cristofanilli, M.D., F.A.C.P., Associate Professor of Medicine, Director of the Inflammatory Breast Cancer Research Program and Clinic, Department of Breast Medical Oncology, The University of Texas, M D Anderson Cancer Center •  Validated enrichment technologies and CTCs in breast cancer •  Clinical value of detection, monitoring and characterization of CTCs in MBC; •  CTCs compared to standard and functional imaging modalities- •  Use of CTCs in primary breast cancer (SC9)   Novel Approaches to Cancer Biomarkers 9:00   Chairperson’s Remarks      BIOMARKERS FOR EARLY DETECTION OF CANCER 9:05   Efficient Diagnosis of Smaller Hepatocellular Carcinoma by Methylated Gene Markers and Classical Tumor Markers in Blood Toyoki Moribe, Ph.D., Technical Support Team Leader, Array Group, Applied Science Business Unit, Roche Diagnostics K.K. 9:35   Septin 9, A Novel DNA Methylation Biomarker as a Blood Test for the Early Detection of Colorectal Cancer Cathy Lofton-Day, Ph.D., Vice President, Molecular Biology & Diagnostics, Epigenomics, Inc. 10:05 Protein Biomarkers for Oral SCC and MALT Lymphoma Shen Hu, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Proteomics and Oral Biology, UCLA School of Dentistry 10:35 Networking Break 11:00 Discovery of miRNA-Based Biomarkers for Cancer Søren Møller, Ph.D., Vice President Research & Development, Exiqon A/S 11:30 A miRNA qRT-PCR Assay that Differentiates Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma from Chronic Pancreatitis             Anna Szafranska-Schwarzbach, Ph.D., CLIA Laboratory Supervisor, Pharmacogenomics Services, Asuragen 12:00 Lunch on your own BIOMARKERS FOR CANCER PROGNOSIS AND THERAPY SELECTION 2:00   Evaluating Risk for Future Tumor Formation Thea D. Tlsty, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Pathology, University of California, San Francisco 2:30   Development of Clinically Relevant Gene Expression Profiles for Prognosis of Early Stage Breast Cancer Richard Bender, M.D., F.A.C.P., Chief Medical Officer, Agendia, Inc. 3:00   in vivo Discovery and Validation of Biomarkers of Human Drug Response and Resistance Joerg Heyer, Ph.D., Principal Scientist, Group Leader, Genetic Models, AVEO Pharmaceuticals, Inc. 3:30   Networking Break 4:00   Industrialized Proteomics for the Discovery and Validation of Oncology Biomarkers Joanna Hunter, Ph.D., Director, Protein Analysis, Caprion 4:30   Metabolite Biomarkers of Prostate Cancer Aggressivity Jeffrey Shuster, Ph.D., Director, Diagnostic Development, Metabolon, Inc. 5:00   Close of Day *Separate Registration Required