Highlights of the First International "Immunotherapy in Pediatric Oncology: Progress and Challenges" Meeting.
The first annual conference on immunotherapy in pediatric oncology was held in Bethesda, MD, from September 9 to 10, 2008 to discuss the state-of-the-art of immunotherapeutic strategies currently being explored in pediatric oncology. Major topics included targeting cell surface receptors, understanding and improving T-cell-based therapies, augmenting innate immune strategies, and enhancing graft-versus-leukemia for pediatric malignancies. As can be seen in the summaries of the individual presentations, significant progress has been made in developing preclinical models of pediatric tumors and a variety of novel immunobiologic therapies are approaching, or already in, the clinic. Although there is much excitement about the potential utility of these agents, a great deal of challenges lie ahead in improving the efficacy of each of these modalities and getting them to patients in a timely fashion. The resulting discussions will hopefully lead to new collaborations and insight for further translational and clinical studies.
Capitini
Christian M
CM
Pediatric Oncology Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, NIH, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA. capitinic@mail.nih.gov
Cooper
Laurence J N
LJ
Egeler
R Maarten
RM
Handgretinger
Rupert
R
Locatelli
Franco
F
Sondel
Paul M
PM
Mackall
Crystal L
CL
D002648:Child; D006801:Humans; D007167:Immunotherapy / Q000639:trends*; D038622:Internationality; D008495:Medical Oncology; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology* / Q000628:therapy*; D010372:Pediatrics