(MENAFN- Gulf Times) Sidra Medical and Research Center (Sidra) announced yesterday that it will be hosting the first international conference on breast cancer immunotherapy on April 13 and 14.
Led by international and local experts, the Breast Cancer Immunotherapy Conference (BRECIS) will focus on immunobiology and immunotherapeutic developments in breast cancer. It is being held in partnership with the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC), the leading society in the field.
"We are proud to bring the world's top researchers in breast cancer immunotherapy to Doha, several of whom are going to present their exciting data on recent findings as well as discuss the first clinical trials demonstrating the use of immunotherapy in breast cancer," said Davide Bedognetti, director of Tumor Biology, Immunology and Therapy Section, Sidra.
"In view of recent successes of immunotherapy in cancers such as melanoma and kidney cancer, breast cancer immunotherapy is becoming a key focus for cancer researchers around the world, including here at Sidra."
Immunotherapy uses a person's own immune system to kill cancer cells by stimulating the immune system. It is currently considered a groundbreaking treatment for cancer. While immunotherapy has been effectively used in the treatment of melanoma and prostate cancer, it is still considered highly experimental in breast cancer treatment.
Other topics on the agenda at BRECIS include the genetic risk factors of breast cancer in Arab populations; breast cancer control in Qatar; the prognostic and predictive role of immune biomarkers of response to cancer immunotherapy; and the description of novel immunotherapeutic approaches.
Breast cancer represents almost 30% of all cancer cases diagnosed in Qatari women, and is the most common cancer in the country. While the incidence of breast cancer in GCC countries is lower than in countries such as US and Europe, it is rising fast. Recent findings indicate that there is a unique pattern of the disease amongst the Arab population.
"The research team at Sidra is actively studying the immunobiology of breast cancer with the ultimate goal of developing more effective and personalised treatment. Along with other teams across the world, we are interested in understanding why and how immunotherapy works in some patients and not in others," concluded Dr Bedognetti.
BRECIS will feature experts from Sidra, Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC), Weill-Cornell Medical College in Qatar, Qatar Computing Research Institute, along with researchers from prestigious institutions such as John Hopkins University, Memorial Sloan Kettering, Heidelberg University, Jackson Laboratory, New York University and the University of Washington.
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