President's Message
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We’re only a month in to the new year and SITC is already moving forward with a number of strategic plan initiatives.
In an exciting and first of its kind collaboration, the World Immunotherapy Council (WIC), will hold an inaugural summit February 21-24, 2012 in Curacao. The WIC is a group of 18 organizations interested in promoting research and translation of cancer immunotherapy in an effort to facilitate effective collaboration to accelerate delivery of new immunotherapies to patients with cancer throughout the world. The goal of this summit is to provide a forum to facilitate the rapid development and global dissemination of cancer immunotherapies through scientific exchange.
SITC is also expanding our educational offerings with two upcoming regional Primers. The SITC Primer on Tumor Immunology and Cancer Immunotherapy™ will take place at the Swissôtel Chicago from 8:00am-5:30pm on Thursday, May 17, 2012, leading into the Clinical Immunology Society (CIS) Annual Meeting which takes place May 17-20, 2012. The SITC Primer on Tumor Immunology and Cancer Immunotherapy™ From Biology to Treatment will take place at the Hyatt Regency McCormick Place from 8:00am-1:00pm on Friday, June 1, 2012, leading into the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting which takes place June 1-5, 2012.
SITC looks forward to continuing our role in advancing the field of cancer immunotherapy. Please stay tuned for more details on these exciting programs in the months to come!
Sincerely,
Thomas F. Gajewski, MD, PhD
SITC President
SITC in Action
Critical Hurdles Paper Published
Since 2008 SITC has hosted a Collaborations Summit in conjunction with its Annual Meetings. These summits were organized by SITC in an effort to facilitate effective collaboration to accelerate delivery of new immunotherapies to patients with cancer regardless of where they live, and is comprised of domestic and international organizations that are similarly interested in promoting research and translation of cancer immunotherapy. In an effort led by SITC Immediate Past President, Bernard Fox, PhD, the organizations prepared a joint publication that defines critical hurdles in cancer immunotherapy. This manuscript was recently published in preliminary form in the Journal of Translational Medicine. SITC would like to congratulate the authors and the participating organizations for their efforts in defining these hurdles and advancing clinical immunotherapy strategies to improve cancer outcomes. To access the full manuscript click here.
SITC Coordinates World Immunotherapy Council Inaugral Summit
Representatives from domestic and international groups that collaborated on the Hurdles manuscript as well as additional immunotherapy interest groups from around the world make up the newly formed World Immunotherapy Council (WIC). These 18 organizations will convene at an inaugural "Summit" February 21-24, 2012 in Curacao where they will discuss several critical hurdles in cancer immunotherapy including: complexity of cancer, tumor heterogeneity and immune escape; lack of definitive biomarker(s) for assessment of clinical efficacy of cancer immunotherapies; and insufficient exchange of information critical to advancing the field. Stay tuned for a recap of this monumental meeting and an outline of the future efforts of this group in the next edition of The SITC Immune Monitor.
Immuno Score Abstract Published
In an effort to test the validity of immunoscore for cancer classification in routine clinical settings worldwide, the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC); the European Academy of Tumor Immunology; the Cancer and Inflammation Program; the National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, USA; and La Fondazione Melanoma have initiated a task force on immunoscoring as a new possible approach for the classification of cancer. The abstract for this concept manuscript was recently published in preliminary form in the Journal of Translational Medicine. A preliminary summary of the group's work will be presented during the SITC Workshop: Focus on the Target: The Tumor Microenvironment, set to take place on October 24-25, 2012, prior to the SITC Annual Meeting in North Bethesda, MD.
SITC Expands Educational Offerings
This year for the first time, SITC has expanded it educational offerings and will host two regional Primers in conjunction with two other organizations Annual Meetings.
SITC at CIS Annual Meeting
The SITC Primer on Tumor Immunology & Cancer Immunotherapy™ will take place at the Swissôtel Chicago from 8:00am-5:30pm on Thursday, May 17, 2012, leading into the Clinical Immunology Society (CIS) Annual Meeting taking place May 17-20, 2012. Co-Organizers are Michael T. Lotze, MD at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, Hideho Okada, MD, PhD at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, and Crystal Mackall, MD at the National Cancer Institute. To register for the SITC Primer on Tumor Immunology & Cancer Immunotherapy™ visit the Clinical Immunology Society website.
SITC at ASCO Annual Meeting
The SITC Primer on Tumor Immunology & Cancer Immunotherapy™ From Biology to Treatment will take place at the Hyatt Regency McCormick Place from 8:00am-1:00pm on Friday, June 1, 2012, leading into the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting taking place June 1-5, 2012. Co-Organizers are Kim A. Margolin, MD at Seattle Cancer Care Alliance and Walter J. Urba, MD, PhD at Earle A. Chiles Research Institute. For more information on the SITC Primer on Tumor Immunology & Cancer Immunotherapy™ From Biology to Treatment please visit the SITC website.
Articles of Interest
SITC Members Carl June, MD and Michael Kalos, PhD Study on New Immunotherapy of Leukemia Ranked #9 in Top 100 Health & Medicine Stories of the Year by Discover Magazine
A groundbreaking immunotherapy of leukemia study conducted by SITC Members Carl June, MD and Michael Kalos, PhD was ranked #9 in the top 100 health and medicine stories of the year by Discover Magazine. Drs. June and Kalos along with colleagues at the University of Pennsylvania reported sustained remission of advanced chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) in a pilot trial of autologous T cells genetically modified to express anti-CD19 chimeric antigen receptor (CART19) and a costimulatory domain from CD137 and the T cell receptor zeta chain. The research, 20 years in the making, was published August 10 in the New England Journal of Medicine and Science Translational Medicine. In this groundbreaking study, two of three patients with advanced CLL experienced complete remission. The genetically modified T cells expanded more than 1,000-fold, trafficked to the patients’ bone marrow, and expressed high levels of functional CART19 for = 6 months.
New Immunotherapy Treatments for Melanoma Ranked #60 in Top 100 Health & Medicine Stories of the Year by Discover Magazine
Discover Magazine also ranked two new immunotherapy treatments for melanoma – ipilimumab and a combination therapy that paired a novel melanoma vaccine with an immune-stimulating agent called interleukin-2 – as #60 in the top 100 health and medicine stories of the year. To read the full article, click here.
NCI's Varmus highlights immunotherapy as one of the most significant cancer breakthroughs
Dr. Harold Varmus, Director of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) was recently interviewed on Medscape’s One-on-One, a series of exclusive interviews with leaders from across healthcare. In the interview, Dr. Varmus cites immunotherapy as one of the three most promising scientific or clinical breakthroughs in the cancer arena. To read the full interview click here.
Events Calendar
Find the latest meeting announcements and important dates to remember here:
• February – National Cancer Prevention Month
• February 4 – World Cancer Day
• February 21 – 24 – World Immunotherapy Council (WIC) Inaugural Summit
Community Update
SITC would like to welcome the following new members for the month of December & January:
• Philip Arlen, MD
• Christian Capitini, MD
• Ivan Martinez Forero, MD, PhD
• Michelle Kuhne, PhD
• Byoung S. Kwon, PhD
• Stephen D. Litwin, MD
• Ira Mellman, PhD
• Paul Nghiem, MD, PhD
• Maurice Orange, MD
• Slos Philippe, PhD
• Weixing Shi, PhD
• Mr. Nathan Singh
• Linda Snyder, PhD
• Ms. Susan Steel
• Song Xin, MD, PhD
SITC Highlights
Call for Photos - SITC Website Redesign to Highlight Members
The new SITC website will launch soon and we need your help! Send us pictures of you or your team in action. We’re looking for photos of individuals in the lab or in clinic. Photos can be action shots, posed photos, individual or group shots. The best pictures will be featured on the SITC website. Pictures can be emailed to Assistant Director of Communication Jennifer Warren at jwarren@sitcancer.org.
