Society Initiatives

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SITC initiatives are programs and projects that have been developed beyond the annual educational programs regularly held by the society. These initiatives are designed to promote the society's mission of improving cancer patient outcomes by advancing the development and application of immunotherapy and include directed initiatives that are focused on issues of major importance to the field.

Programs are events put on or sponsored by the society to promote collaboration and scientific exchange. Projects are ongoing initiatives spearheaded or sponsored by the society.

Active Projects

SITC Immune Biomarkers Task Force

2009 – Present

The work of the SITC Immune Biomarkers Task Force, which has been active since 2009, continues with the recent publication of a two-part white paper in JITC, ‘Validation of Biomarkers to Predict Response to Immunotherapy in Cancer’ (November 2016).

Cancer Immunotherapy Guidelines

2010 – Present

SITC established the Cancer Immunotherapy Guidelines initiative to develop recommendations for the clinical application of cancer immunotherapy in specific disease settings. This initiative will result in evidence-based consensus recommendations on FDA-approved immunotherapies with special consideration of patient eligibility, toxicity assessment and management, assessment of response and treatment termination, and therapy sequencing and combination strategies.

SITC Immunoscore Validation Project

2012 – Present

The inclusion of immunological biomarkers is increasingly recognized as important in the prediction of prognosis and response to cancer treatments. Classification of the host’s immune response to cancer, termed ‘immunoscore’, may add significant prognostic value over and above existing tumor classification systems. In an effort to promote use of the immunoscore in routine clinical settings, the SITC Immunoscore Validation Project was initiated with 23 centers in 17 countries worldwide. The results of this project may result in the implementation of the immunoscore as a new component for the classification of cancer.

Combination Immunotherapies Task Force

2015 – Present

The Combination Immunotherapies Task Force has convened to: identify and prioritize the most important hypothesis-driven prospects for combination therapies; identify the key regulatory challenges in accelerating testing while maintaining a focus on patient safety; promote the development of safe, efficacious, and practical immunotherapeutic combinations through.

Click here to view a list of completed projects.

Active Programs

SITC Annual Meeting & Pre-Conference Programs

Each year, SITC hosts an Annual Meeting, Primer, and Workshop in the fall. The Annual Meeting & Pre-Conference Programs provides a unique environment and educational forum that fosters strategic partnerships and intimate channels of discussion on current clinical trials, methodologies, and new initiatives in tumor immunology and biological therapy between basic and clinical researchers, regulatory agencies and biotech/pharmaceutical industry representatives.

Click here to learn about collaborative education programs involving SITC.