Established in 2005, the Richard V. Smalley Memorial Award is presented each year to a luminary in the field that has significantly contributed to the advancement of cancer immunotherapy research.  It is the society’s most prestigious award and serves to honor those that have been pioneers in their work and made a notable impact worthy of high regard and recognition by their peers. 

The 2023 Richard V. Smalley Memorial Award recipient is Robert D. Schreiber, PhD from Washington University School of Medicine. After receiving the award, Dr. Schreiber will give a presentation Cancer Immunoediting followed by time for questions from the audience.

This 30-minute session will highlight two selected Late-breaking Abstracts who will each showcase their work in a 15-minute oral presentation.  

This fast-paced session will feature six oral presentations from select basic science abstracts with time for Q&A.  

This fast-paced session will feature six oral presentations from select clinical abstracts with time for Q&A. 

While immune checkpoint inhibitors have resulted in prolonged responses and cures in subsets of patients, many do not respond while others may develop resistance over time. Diverse mechanisms of resistance have been identified, including cellular and molecular immune-suppressive elements. In this session we will discuss recently described mechanisms affecting T cells and other key cells in the tumor microenvironment, cellular screens that will inform future studies and novel machine learning methods to decipher the complex interactions that lead to resistance.  

Cancer immunotherapy has led to new advances in the treatment of cancer patients. Immune checkpoint blockade targeting CTLA-4 and/or PD-(L)1 has improved outcomes in patients with late-stage cancer. Patients with hematological malignancies have also benefited from cellular therapies, particularly with CAR T cells. In patients who receive these treatments, there is an increasing understanding of what causes therapeutic resistance or relapse. The goal of this session is to explore how the intestinal microbiome impacts efficacy and toxicity after these therapies. The intestinal microbiome will also be assessed in terms of its regulatory mechanisms in the context of cancer immunotherapy. 

Given the evidence that prevention and screening have the greatest impact on reducing mortality due to cancer in the population, this session will cover a wide range of topics related to the emerging, exciting field of immunoprevention. Topics will include: 1) immunobiology and its role in carcinogenesis; 2) primary and secondary prevention, including identifying and intercepting pre-neoplastic conditions and targeting of breast cancer; 3) targeting high-risk populations such as those with hereditary cancer syndromes; 4) repurposing technologies and interventions for immunoprevention, such as mRNA vaccines and immunotherapy, respectively; and 5) pragmatic considerations for developing immunoprevention strategies, including NCI programs and clinical trial designs and endpoints.

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This session will cover the role of cytokines in tumor-immune interactions and how cytokines can play a role in clinical oncology. This is a rapidly expanding field, where engineered forms of cytokines and combination approaches are being extensively studied. Dr. Rafi Ahmed will provide insight into the mechanisms by which IL-2 combination therapy with PD-1 affects the CD8 T cell exhaustion program. Dr. Jamie Spangler will discuss novel engineered cytokines and immunocytokines. Dr. Karim Chamie will give a clinical perspective on the use of cytokines, including an engineered form of IL-15, in the treatment of patients with bladder cancer.

Over the last decade, cancer immunotherapy has revolutionized the lives of millions of people worldwide who are battling cancer. The advent of immunotherapy treatments like immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI), T-cell engagers (TCE), and chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy (CAR-T) has not only transformed patient care, but also opened up new avenues for research and innovation. However, whilst transformative, current treatments are not a panacea and many tumors remain refractory to immunotherapies. They have sparked a renaissance of therapeutic discovery and have attracted multidisciplinary teams to the field, bringing with them their unique perspectives and expertise. Together, we can co-create the next wave of immunotherapy treatments and continue to push the boundaries of what's possible in the fight against cancer. In this session, we will review the rapidly evolving landscape of IO biotech and discuss some of the most promising novel approaches to unleash the full potential of anti-tumor immune response for the next wave of IO medicines.

This session will focus on data sharing in immunotherapy research, with a special emphasis on balancing the need for open data access with the protection of young investigators' careers. The discussion will explore best practices for sharing large datasets, including strategies to ensure appropriate attribution and recognition. In addition, the session will address the challenges and etiquette surrounding data sharing and emphasize the mutual benefits for researchers and the public. By promoting effective data sharing practices, the session aims to advance scientific progress and improve patient outcomes in immunotherapy research. The session will conclude with a panel discussion.

Selected abstracts will be presented in 10-15 minute oral presentations. 

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The official start of the second full day begins with a welcome from one of the Organizers behind the Annual Meeting programming. 

The 38th Annual Meeting Keynote Address will be given by Susan Kaech, PhD from the Salk Institute. Dr. Kaech’s presentation on stressing out the immune system in cancer will be followed by time for questions from the audience. 

Solid tumors are complex neo-organs comprised of many cell types and a dynamic extracellular matrix. In recent years, there has been increasing focus on the importance of interactions between immune and stromal cells and on understanding how these interactions facilitate and regulate immune responses. Organization is key to immune responses, but the details of how immune cells are organized in the TME is an emerging area. The stromal microenvironment of human cancer is heterogeneous, but in some cases highly organized tertiary lymphoid structures (TLS) exist in association with tumors, which can exhibit cardinal features of lymph nodes. This session will review the importance of organization in facilitating immune responses and highlight developments in our understanding of TLS biology in cancer and the role of TLS in IO responses. 

This 30-minute session will highlight two selected Late-breaking Abstracts who will each showcase their work in a 15-minute oral presentation.  

This fast-paced session will feature six oral presentations from select basic science abstracts with time for Q&A.  

This fast-paced session will feature six oral presentations from select clinical abstracts with time for Q&A. 

Join SITC President Leisha Emens, MD, PhD for oral presentations from the top four scoring Young Investigator Abstract authors. The Presidential Award recipient will be selected following the session and will be announced at the Awards Ceremony that evening at 6:30–7 p.m. PDT. 

Immune checkpoint inhibitors and cellular therapies produce durable responses in a subset of treated patients, but also cause a diverse array of toxicities related to dysregulated immunity. In this session, we will discuss the emerging pathophysiology of these immune-related toxicities, from immune-related adverse events (irAEs) to the immune effector cell-associated toxicities of cytokine release syndrome, neurotoxicity, and hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis-like syndrome. Dr. Nirali Shah will present an overview of the clinical features, grading, pathophysiology, and treatment approaches for the newly defined immune effector cell associated HLH-like syndrome (IEC-HS). Dr. Chloe Villani will present an overview of the systematic single-cell characterization of patients with irAEs done by her group, producing a variety of insights into the pathogenesis of irAEs.  Finally, session chairs Drs. Bianca Santomasso and Douglas Johnson will synthesize current research and commonalities between CAR-T and immune checkpoint inhibitor associated toxicities. 

Work over the past several decades has underscored that cancers and immune cells can be characterized by distinct and specific metabolic pathways and nutrient requirements. As such, the interplay between the metabolic requirements of tumor-responsive immune cells and existing metabolic conditions, both within the tumor microenvironment and systemically, plays a critical role in determining the nature and extent of the anti-tumor response. In fact, metabolic challenges can be understood as checkpoints to immune response, and recent work has highlighted the principle that metabolic vulnerabilities in cancer can be targeted to enhance the immune response. Speakers in this session will highlight new insights into this field from a number of perspectives, including the role of systemic metabolism on the anti-tumor immune response, specific metabolic features of cancer and how these programs locally influence the immune response, and lastly, metabolic adaptations of cancer to therapeutic intervention.  

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Selected abstracts will be presented in 10-15 minute oral presentations. 

Despite new advances in immunotherapy for many solid tumors, tumors arising in the brain and around peripheral nerves are not typically immune responsive.  Cancer cells actively secrete growth factors that promote tumor hyper-innervation (neo-neurogenesis) and develop complex connections with neurons and other parenchymal cells in the brain. A better understanding of how tumor cells develop immune resistance in these anatomical compartments is critical before immunotherapy may produce clinically relevant anti-tumor immunity.  In this session, experts will discuss the latest research in the tumor innervation, brain metastases, and immunotherapy.  

In recent years, several studies have begun to evaluate the impact of host factors including race/ethnicity/age/socio-economic status on outcomes in both children and adults with cancer. Impact of these factors on the biology of immune response is also increasingly appreciated. However, how age/racial diversity affect immune response to cancer is not completely understood. This session will explore disparities in cancer care as well as emerging insights into the impact of aging and racial/ethnic background on the immune system and the cancer microenvironment. These insights also have implications for possible mechanisms by which age/race/ethnicity can modulate tumor immunity.

In this session, you will be informed about the most recent advancements in the manufacturing of cells and genetic engineering platforms for cell therapy clinical applications. The presentation will cover topics including automation, as well as the effects of manufacturing processes on the functionality and fitness of T-cells. The session will also delve into aspects of retroviral and lentiviral vectors manufacturing, as well as alternative approaches such as gene editing. Additionally, the production and engineering  of NK cells and macrophages for clinical use will be discussed.

Selected abstracts will be presented in 10-15 minute oral presentations. 

 The recipients of the following awards will be recognized and the awards will be presented by SITC President Leisha Emens, MD, PhD:
•    Young Investigator Awards
•    JITC Best Paper Awards
•    JITC Peer Review Mentorship Program Class of 2023 Graduates
•    Martin "Mac" Cheever Excellence in Clinical Trial Design - Travel Award
•    SITC Fellowship and Technology Awards
•    Connect-a-Colleague Top Referrer
•    Sparkathon Class of 2023 Recognition
•    Presidential Travel Awards
•    Presidential Award

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The official start of the last day begins with a welcome from one of the Organizers behind the Annual Meeting programming

Cell-based immunotherapies have entered the standard of care for B-lymphoid malignancies and are now showing encouraging signs of efficacy across a diverse range of adult and pediatric solid cancers. To make further progress, the field now must address three critical questions: 1) the identification and therapeutic targeting of clonally conserved cancer-specific antigens, 2) the phenotypic and functional attributes of effective versus ineffective cell products, and 3) the molecular mechanisms leading to lymphocyte dysfunction within tumors and translatable strategies to overcome these barriers. In this session, speakers will describe innovative new strategies and emerging clinical data focused on achieving these goals using CARs, TCRs, and TIL.

The session will highlight current challenges and future solutions to develop safe and efficacious engineered immune cell therapies. Speakers will cover current clinical experience and challenges that limit efficacy, use of machine learning and AI to improve cell therapies, and strategies to engineer cells with advanced features to impact treatment of refractory cancers.