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.
Pediatric Oncology Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, NIH, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA. capitinic@mail.nih.gov
Christian M
CM
Capitini
Laurence J N
LJ
Cooper
R Maarten
RM
Egeler
Rupert
R
Handgretinger
Franco
F
Locatelli
Paul M
PM
Sondel
Crystal L
CL
Mackall
D002648:Child; D006801:Humans; D007167:Immunotherapy / Q000639:trends*; D038622:Internationality; D008495:Medical Oncology; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology* / Q000628:therapy*; D010372:Pediatrics